FGO Singularity 1950 Germany- The Road to Paradise
by ColinHayworth
Summary: A story in an alternate WWII singularity where its mystery still reigns and the mana were unusually dense for its age. It has allowed all those who were beyond 1900 to become heroic spirits as long as their deeds are beyond any comprehension of human beings. And now this is where all those who remains to reach the truth of what happened
1. Beginning of Calamities

**Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

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_**"I died in hell, and they**** ca-*%#&P^&%%*/*$d$%"**_ **only inaudible statics remain**

\- A nameless soldier

_**"You know the real meaning of peace only if you have been through the war"**_

-Kosovar

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_** Chapter 1: Beginning of a Calamity  
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**_Berlin Offensive | 16 December 1945 |_**

"Listen here, y'all gentlemen" speaks by a muscular man with a thin mustache wearing a red beret and army suspenders, holding in his hand a BAR rifle.

"We all have made it this far and we're not going to turn back, we all know what is in each other's mind right now. But for heaven's sake, we're not going to stop until we reach that bunker, you understand?"

_**Word of God: "By the way, I'm bad at using words to describe a person's appearance so you probably have to search the net for what I meant for them to look like"**_

"Yes, sir!" All shout in unison. A squad of 50 men, considering the current's squad commander has been going from the beginning of D-Day right towards this point, it is a miracle to see him being fine considering how brutal the war was.

Moving slowly through the street, the silence was something that they didn't expect. They have made it through many battles where bullets flying everywhere and chaos completely filled the atmosphere. This silence can only mean one thing, it is either that there is nothing to worry about or they have already stepped into a trap.

The sounds of gunfire can be heard from the distance, Colonel Pierce, the man in the red beret discerned that it was the sounds of small arm, most likely an SMG. But why does he feel something is wrong about it. He made it this far, if anything can even discourage him at this point, it would be something completely unnatural and yet why.

"Hold..." Colonel Pierce commanded his squad to stop moving so that he can assess the situation more.

"Help!-" A scream came as fast and silenced just as fast.

"Something doesn't feel right here... Everyone, get into the buildings and hide, don't make any noise or disturbance. You heard my word?" Pierce commanded his squad once more.

It was just the sounds of small arms and yet he is commanding his squad to go into hiding. He could have dealt with enemy soldiers by himself and yet something at the depth of his soul is screaming at the top to told him to hide.

And so everyone in the squad came into hiding in each building, hoping that they wouldn't be noticed.

The sounds of gunfire are getting closer, he heard the screams and running footsteps. But something is really wrong here, the scream here is instilled with dreads and hopelessness. The one that came from one-sided slaughter, he knew it well enough to even discern it. They don't even need to see to know what is going on, they can already tell by the dreading aura that filled the air.

Pierce embraced the ground so that he can feel the nearby movement, he can hear the footsteps outside and a conversation in a foreign language, it must have been the enemy. They were speaking about something and then he hears the footsteps approaching his location. He then realized that he has to do something or die, there is no way he can stand still and do nothing.

He then stealthily approaches the doorway and stand right at the blind corner, the enemy isn't going to see him until they going through the door. By that point, it will be too late for them either way.

Pierce felt the presence of somebody getting nearer, timing his moment carefully and he grabbed the enemy by the neck and choking him. It was just as he thought, a German soldier which he could tell by the uniform that the man he is strangling is wearing and the weapon he used which is an MP40.

The strangled soldier tried to struggle but Pierce's raw strength alone overpowered the soldier as he started to lose more the grasp on his life. Pierce quickly took hold of the MP40 as he attempted to disarm the soldier.

Just as Pierce thought, the enemy soldier didn't come alone for there is another soldier appeared from the other side of the hallway in front of him. The soldier in front instead of trying to keep calm, that man open fired on him despite Pierce is holding another soldier hostage. Acting on his instinct, Pierce pulled the trigger of the MP40 at the enemy soldier in front. Chunks of body part ripped out of the enemy soldier and the one that he is holding hostage. He used the man he held hostage as a shield and he didn't realize that instantly because he was out of breath from bracing from the impact of the bullets.

Even after the opposing soldier has fallen, he was unable to let off the trigger for a few seconds and watched as the bullets ripping through the walls effortlessly. Pierce sit down in horror as he watched how mutilated the hostage and enemy soldier was, not even he would wish this on his worst enemy. He then shuddering in the realization that if this is what would happen to even them if they were got shot by their own armament then what would happen to his ally soldiers outside who fell victim to this. A single handgun bullet has the power of a 50. cal bullet, what did they managed to discover or invented to allow them to create this kind of monstrous firepower!?

Bracing for whatever the sight might be, he looked outside and the scene before him can't be described with any words at all. Their body parts scattered, can't even tell which belong to who at all. Chunks of meat and blood scattered the whole place like red paint on an empty canvas, like small islands within an ocean of blood. He braced for this moment and tried to suppress the dreading feelings that are swelling up inside, if this is his reaction then others would faint instantly.

Suddenly, the intercom blaring up, the beret-wearing man pick up his and on the other side of the communication is chaos and gunfire, the operator screaming at the top of his lung: "All units, retreat! Those soldiers, their armament suddenly become too powerful, they're tea-", the communication was cut off after that.

"What the hell...". Suddenly, they heard a close by firefight and see a fight between a battalion and a squad of enemy soldiers. What they seeing is unbelievable as they seeing the soldiers tear their allies apart with just their submachine gun and those poor souls on the receiving end soon turn into gore and splatter on the ground, a nauseating sight that no one could ever erase from their memories.

He realized none of his team armaments could even kill a single soldier of the enemy. It is either back down from the fight now or die in vain.

"Colonel Pierce, what do we do now?" a soldier asked. All the morale is gone, there is no choice left other than flee or suffer from the same fate of that battalion. let a sigh then decided they'll have to flee, proceed right now is like charging at a meat grinder. In other words, insane.

"We have to fall back and assess the situation. We can only fight fire with fire, if you don't have their weapons, back down now. Don't fight an impossible battle if you can avoid it."

Made it this far only to turn back, they made back to US temporal base, the squad silently look at each other wonder what will happen to them right now and in the future, all they can do is hope that they'll soon find an answer to the predicament they came in. But, they might have been too hopeful as this was just the beginning of something far worse.

**_Nightfall _****_| 16-17 December 1945 |_**

Their screams echo into the night, this wasn't even a fight, just a massacre.

Allied soldiers fell like grass against lawnmower when just a squad of mysteriously enhanced soldiers that can't be harmed by bullets of their opposing enemy, a monstrous humanoid mutant wearing a Kaiser helmet smashing the Allied soldiers to paste, many resorts to anti-tank weaponry still unable to stop it from rampaging the camps.

Many soldiers trying to escape from the camp through the road ended up got encircled and executed on spot, the higher-up still getting arrogance and forcing their men to rush into their deaths, radio operator trying to call for help only to realize they have been isolated and cut off and soon the operator would follow that shattered hope of his into hell, engineer and tank operator trying to use tank against those things, but it also bears no fruit as that thing throw the said tank at those who still stand.

At a distance away from the current chaos, Pierce's squad all clamming up in silence. The destruction still going on, not believing the hell that's unfolding in front of their eyes.

Despair, hopelessness... all of those things all just pure understatements now...

"Pierce... is this our end?...". A soldier opened his mouth and said:

As hopeless as it is, he would rather suicide right now, but something in his heart keeps telling that he shouldn't die right now, something deep inside his own heart as it beat in unison with his will. His mind and spirit keep contradicting each other, a second of it felt like an eternity.

He stuck in a dilemma within himself whether to die or keep carry on. In his moment of eternity, his spirit overrides his mind as he utters his word: "No... We will carry on.". All of his squad break off their own uncertainty when he said his word.

"All of you, go into supply storages, get any rations, ammunition, medical supplies as much as you can, prepare to drop them off if it's going to get you becoming their target." The squad, their hearts, and wills in unison all together rush in supply storages." Pierce commanding the rest of the surviving units.

"But how do we intend to fight them back if they found us?!" A soldier asked Pierce.

Pierce simply show the guy the MP40 he got much earlier in the day, the soldier realized that there might still be some way to fight back, it is just going to be a really steep uphill battle but not impossible. Just that there is no room for mistake. As long there is a way to take their weapons, they might still be able to fight them back.

And that moment, pretty much everyone working with Pierce without asking a single question or repent, that just shows how much charisma the man has for himself.

When the soldiers grabbing the supplies, the commander comes behind, tired and sweating yet still somehow have the strength to yell at them.

"What are y'all twats thinking!? This is an order, get out there and stop this madness!". The commander yelling at Pierce

They don't care anymore, they already sicken of him for many reasons, especially when failure is the only sure thing to happen right now. They wonder how he became the commander of this platoon in the first place. After that, they flee out of the warehouse.

The commander still mad about it and he forgot that the ground was trembling, and the iron door burst and that monster staining with blood is staring at him, seeing him like appetizer after lunch, the general collapse in fear, his face turns white as he sees that thing. He finally understands the fear of his men when they were faced with that thing. He can only let out a scream before he just a splash on the ground.

The screams of despair can still be heard from afar, Pierce's squad has escaped through the forest leaving behind the blazing ruin of their base. Their future is now only drawing a blank as from this point onward, only those who were left would ever tell the world of what happened.

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_**Chaldea's Intervention**_

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Dead bodies... scattered everywhere till the horizon. The sky, bleak with the dark color of despair. Rain fell endlessly, like the sorrow of those who were forced to witness the marvel of humanity turned into the worst nightmare.

The greenness of this land was completely replaced with the undeniable destiny of warfare itself. A wasteland where anyone who has seen it will never once returned to be the same should they even managed to find a silver lining of survival.

Chivalry, honor... all are thrown out long ago and replaced with industrialized manslaughter. All for the sake of killing the most as much as possible. A generation wasted to die and set the stone of slow destruction of humanity.

A soldier, with his clothes bleached to gray by time, trekking through the land of the dead. He keeps wandering, with no destination in mind. Forever stuck in this perpetual cycle of torment, all for the single hope of getting out of this eternal punishment. He keeps walking, abandoning everything that he kept with him, just so he could delay the inevitable. He keeps walking as he sacrifices his mentality restrain, which prevents him from doing anything that could kill him, just so he could keep moving on.

He keeps walking and soon, he sacrificed the very madness that kept him for so long. He soon came into a stop and stood up straight, he looked up into the sky as the raindrops fell on his face. A face that was rugged by torment, suffering. Devoid of any hope that could free him from this suffering. He fell into his back with an eye as empty like the void, looking up the sky and he let out his last breath. He joined the rank of those who have fallen in this place, without ever having the chance to ask God why this has to happen to him and everyone else.

And soon, everything turned forever into the silence. All of this, and for what, for why. A generation died for a single war. A war that changed nothing.

_**Somewhere in the Wandering Sea**_

Inside a large chamber, there are a few people who are working to keep the machinery working. Among them, there are the two that stand out the most. A little girl who is wearing clothes that seems to belong to the Renaissance Era and the other is a gentleman who is wearing a black overcoat. They are the legends that were incarnated into this world. Bearing the duty to vanguard humanity's history itself.

Those two, are Leonardo Da Vinci and Sherlock Holmes. The two supposed to die long ago if according to actual history. But the basic common senses were thrown out long ago when it comes to this place.

"Hey, daddy Holmes. We are receiving a signal of something." Da Vinci tried to get Sherlock's attention.

"Oh please, can you stop calling me daddy already?! I don't need to draw more ire from my nemesis, you know!" Sherlock flustered at how Da Vinci addressed him. He would never get used to being called that at all.

"This is a signal of a Singularity. At a time like this? Hmm... Something about this doesn't feel right to me." Da Vinci said.

"Well, considering what we are up against, the idea of clearing another Singularity just seems to be a child play to our Master. But I wouldn't get overconfident about this and I should at least check how much has this Singularity deviated from our proper history." Sherlock said calmly as he ran the calculation.

As the calculation went any further, both of them started to feel anxious about how the calculation will turn out. It has already started to deviate even beyond the Camelot singularity that it was declared as EX in the importance of humanity's foundation. And it doesn't even end at all. It still going on as the deviation calculation started to go way too far into the Lostbelt territory.

"This is definitely not okay, at all..." Sherlock said with a tone of concern in his voice. He is always confident in things because he is Sherlock Holmes and he would be able to solve everything when it comes to riddle and mystery. If he got worried then others would really should be.

"Shall we call our Master now?" Da Vinci asked in fear as she sees the calculation still going on.

"Yeah... I think we should. Now..." Sherlock said in agreement.

Here we are, the Savior of Humanity sleeping in a giant APC called the "Shadow Border", his name is Gudao Fujimaru, the master of hundreds of Heroic Spirits who follow him out of their respects and the bond they make with him. Their previous facility called Chaldea now is under thousands of feet of ice. Only a few staff and the new director survived when they were attacked by the Crypters when Mage's Association enforce the shutdown of Chaldea and the FATE summoning system.

In order to prevent the collapse of humanity, they have to search and destroy the Lostbelts that the Crypters were given by the alien gods. It sounds simple but Lostbelt is a timeline that was purged due to stagnation of humanity and the Lostbelt tree that was planted in those timelines will prevent it from being purged.

But to Gudao that is the act of causing a causality paradox that would harm or destroy the current timeline. Because of that, he has to purge them by his hand, doing so will erase the entire existence of the timeline and those who belonged to it. Basically, timeline genocide. It was never a nice experience at all.

Six Lostbelts has been purged, yet they will never get used to it at all. All of it was mental torture for those Servants who were selected to purge it. Some were already in denials that they now have to kill the others just to save themselves. It was a battle that no one would ever come out to be the same anymore after this entire charade. Facing too many Herculean tasks, they somehow managed to make through with no Chaldean casualty for now.

All of this would have killed so many of the Servants presents here yet nothing has changed at all. They have built a second Chaldea facility but it is still at an early age and can't be used at all. They will only use it as a secret ace in case something bad would happen.

Gudao who woke up in a cold sweat, seeing that dream and witnessing the soldier in it, dying not because of anyone but of his despair. It was a grim reminder of what humanity has done.

"Sempai" the voice of the girl who been with him since his first day, her name is Mash Kyrelight."Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," said Gudao. Six times genocide has pretty much made him numb to the thoughts of killing which made him fear himself more.

"By the way, D-" before Mash said anything, the emergency alarm went off.

_**"ALERT! ALERT! ALL SERVANTS COME TO RAYSHIFT CHAMBER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I REPEAT. **_**_ALL SERVANTS COME TO RAYSHIFT CHAMBER."_**

Many Servants rushing to Rayshift Chamber, many were human who has the great deed in their lives. Some were tales that were passed down through generations. Some were being of myth yet still humane because the myth said so and so many more...

Gudao comes in through the door and many Servants were already stand in their places. This isn't usually happening, when it does, things must have been extremely serious.

Da Vinci comes out and says: "Gudao, we found a singularity in the German year 1950 that can potentially become dangerous, even more than Camelot Singularity. " Da Vinci said it with a worrying expression. Da Vinci is a little girl who was originally a busty woman who was modeled after Mona Lisa. When the Crypters raid Chaldea, she was killed when trying to stop the destruction of Chaldea itself, if it weren't for the fact that she back herself up with this body, she would have died for real.

Sherlock Holmes jumps in and says: "Yes my dear elementary. When we found about the singularity, I tried to calculate every possibility and how potentially dangerous this singularity is, and... I'm afraid the variations always constantly jump up and messing down to the point, not even I can't hypothetically give you the right enough result. You know that I am not the type to add in hypothesis to fact and if you are seeing me doing this. You know how bad things have become"

"And so because of that, we decided to give this singularity rank EX for being incalculable " Da Vinci giving her words.

"So this is a fight I can't back down huh?" Gudao thinks solemnly.

"So you decided right? Ok, then we shall commence the Operat-". Da Vinci excitedly said before getting cut off.

"**HOLD IT**". Said Gilgamesh.

''What's wrong Gil?". Gudao asks the servant who he has considered Gudao to be equal to him.

"I have seen 156,189 possibilities and they involve you getting erased the moment you land in that singularity," Gil said with a serious tone which is very rarely happening.

"Then how many of it did I land safely" Gudao asking him with concern

"I'll give it a 1, and that is if you decided to bring only that Faker or one of his family with you, not that I meant to insult him you know," said Gil.

"I think you should also taking his advice," Said the blonde woman with the name Artoria Pendragon which is the King Arthur

"I agree with her too," said the blond guy next to her who bears the name Arthur Pendragon which is also King Arthur, he considered Artoria like his sister.

Their instinct basically screams that he should just go with Emiya, anyone else would spell doom to him.

"Emiya, will you follow me?" Gudao asks him with a determined look. The dual bladed Archer taking it up with no hesitation."Of course"

"Ok, so then everything is set, right?" Da Vinci asked."So then we shall commence rayshift"

After the preparation is completed, for now.

_"Rayshifting commence... Counting down 3...2...1...0"_

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_**To be continued.**_

_**Since this is my newest fic, any criticism is welcomed and I'll use it to further my writing skills. I can only write during the weekend or my free time so please wait if you are actually interested in it.**_


	2. Forgotten Purpose

**Warning: ****Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

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_**Chapter 2: Forgotten Purpose**_

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_**Luxemburg? |1944?|**_

**_It was a night full of stars, under that dazzling dome of glittering light was two men sitting beside each other in front of the campfire, they were having a heart to heart, making bonds even if it's in a war where they could never be sure to be able to return safely._**

"Hey, it is a clear night isn't it?" said a lieutenant.

"Yeah... You never get to see this in a city and even when you are in the countryside, you can't even be guaranteed to see it." said the colonel.

"By the way, what was your name?" the lieutenant asks back.

"My name is Nicholas Pierce. You can skip the formal part" the man returns his answer. "What about yours?".

"The name is Millan. Nice to know you" the lieutenant happily answer.

"Good to see you too" Col. Pierce reply.

They continue their chat, talking about stuff like their time in training, deployment, stuff like that. Suddenly, a shooting star appeared and flew through the starry sky, it caught the attention of the two men, make a small whisper that can only be heard in his mind. Millan curiously asking him what did he wish for.

"I wish that my sister would be fine no matter what happened..." Col. Pierce reply back.

"Your sister?" Millan got his curiosity won over him again.

"Her name is Nichol Penny, she works for USACE, and a high-ranked one at that" Col. Pierce explain to him

"Wow... Guess military blood really flows through you guys, huh?" Millan asks enthusiastically.

"Yeah. Tomorrow, we will continue our advance into Berlin, may we able to see each other again." Col. Pierce said it with his usual tone.

"Yeah, good night"

"Good night..."

...

...

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_**A Savior Amid Madness**_

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**Somewhere in the remain of North Poland|1950|**

**He's finally awake, realized it was just all a dream, a tear flows through his eye, realized so many of those he had to hold dear has been long gone, lying beneath a tree nearby the shore and looking at the north is just sea towards the horizon and the south is just forest covering as far as his eyes can see.**

"Ugh, how long have I went on like this?"-Pierce

Ever since his squad's FUBAR in 1945, they have gone through many hardships that are even beyond any soldier's supposed threshold. His soldiers are fallen one by one, some die because of disease, some because of starvation or thirst, some got killed because the Warmancht pursuit of them, not even excluding psychological trauma, injury, accident,... 6 years have passed, all that remains of his squad were just 9 people remain, and they aren't even mentally stable after all those years. The stolen weapons were a bit more than enough to keep things up but at this point, things can be equivalized like fighting a tank with a slingshot.

All those years are hell, and he wonders how he still remains steadfast even after going through all of it. He silently stares at the sea until he notices that a man is being washed ashore as he held on to something. Pierce came upon him to check whether he still alive or not. The man cough and stare up at him but he soon fall into unconsciousness.

Pierce called everyone to check up on him to keep him alive. A while later, he finally awake and keep staring at them, he decided to stand up and regain his composure and the first thing he started is to how fucking prideful his lineage as magus already. Just your typical magus personality, of course, Pierce and his squad don't comprehend a damn thing he said. Finally, he decided to explain himself.

"I'm the prodi-" before he got to say anything. Pierce has already stopped him, knowing he doesn't need any more headaches from a person with an insufferable personality.

"Please just tell me, why are you washed up here" Pierce just decided to go straight into the business.

"Oh, as you can see here, I was selected as a transporter of the artifacts of America National Museum as they we-" he got cut off by Pierce again.

"What happened in America!?" Pierce keeps shaking him repeatedly, desperately for an answer.

"At least let me tell all of it first, you blockhead! America got invaded by the Nazi and the people there were desperately try to hold them back. In fear of having their historical artifacts destroyed by them, the president decided to appoint me to bring all of those somewhere safe and as you can see, it ended pretty badly."

"No..." Pierce's face turns pale white seeing the possibility of...

"Well, that is all of what I can tell. And since you save me, I probably going to give you some little help, and that is to show you whether you can be capable of magecraft." The magus decides to be a little humble despite his pride.

The magus giving a check to everyone who is still remaining, most are circuit less, some only have just 2-3 at most which are just as useless. But when it was Pierce's turn. The result is beyond what anyone expected.

"You have a magic circuit of 30, your quality is upper-average at that, you have a large mana od which is strange for a non-magus, your Origin is... Determination and your Element is... also Determination. My god, to think that I have met an Incarnation"

In the magus world. A magus is deciphered by their Origin and Element. Origin differs between each person, and the element usually is between the standard 5. Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Ether. Some have all 5 which is called the Standard which is quite rare even among the magus society. But the rarest is Incarnation where one has the same Origin and Element, which gear them towards the said thing and it even influences their personality and decision. Due to the extremely low amount of known magus recorded being Incarnation, the amount of knowledge and information regarding it is sparse and usually unreliable.

"Ok, mister. You are someone very special, unfortunately. Your Origin and Element aren't the standard 5 so you can't use any magecraft at all except for Reinforcement." The magus makes his final report.

"Well, that sucks" Pierce let out a sigh for getting his hope up for something stupid-sounding.

"However, we can make use of that large od of yours." The magus gives his advice.

"Uh, how?" Pierce confused about what the magus just said.

"There is a way and that is to summon a Heroic Spirit." the magus confidently answers his question.

"Heroic Spirit?" Never in Pierce has been so confused for so many times repeatedly.

"A Heroic Spirit is someone who has done great deeds in their life that they were immortalized into the word of history. They were remembered as many things like heroes, kings, mages, inventors, explorers, etc... or reached the realm that is impossible to comprehend how they managed to become like that. To summon them, you need a catalyst. One that was part of their history or was in their possession when they were alive. Once doing so, they'll be your Servant, one who takes your command and fight for you. A Servant's strength is hundreds above the strongest human and they would be the greatest help, not to count that the mana here is dense enough so you don't have to give them much mana..." The magus's rant went on.

"So in short, they are historical figures that are so strong they can steamroll an army without a sweat..." Pierce tried to get a summary of what he said.

"Exactly, I know how to make a summoning circle, but I'm were drained that I can only use circuit checkup so this is on yours." the magus reply.

After a while, the circle is prepared. Now, only the catalyst is required. Pierce looks around the shore for anything, a little bit later and he sees a strongbox wash ashore that have marked "ANM". He knew it can only be one thing. America National Museum. He forces open the box and inside is. A crank. He doesn't know what this crank is. But it belongs to the museum so it must be authentic. He decided to place his bet on the crank as he walks toward the circle. The light in the circle started to flare up as the surge of energy begins to engulf the area. Pierce's vision turns white from the light even when they were in the middle of the afternoon.

A moment later, the light died down, a figure is standing in front of Pierce, a white-bearded old man held in his hand a flintlock rifle with a bayonet attached to it, the rifle has a brass and steel aesthetics part in it. He's wearing the clothes that seem to belong to wealthy families in Wild West Era. But the air around him tells that he's not a greedy or abusive person in any way at face belongs to a kind grandfather who takes good care of those around him. But one thing about his air that he extrudes a strength that is beyond comprehension for a human as if he could raze a city and then just moving on like a stroll in a park.

"Are you my Master?" The old man said.

Pierce was too shocked to comprehend what he has just seen. A historic figure literally appeared in front of him, asking him if he was his master. He doesn't have any word left to say, the same is for his squad as they see him.

"I'm your Master" Pierce finally gathers his guts to say what he needs to. To form a contract with said Heroic Spirit.

"Very good, I am your Servant, Archer class. At your command." The old man said with a kind tone.

Finally forming a contract with his Servant, he let out a breath of relief only for one his soldiers come out screaming that a squad of pursuing soldiers are coming after them. He began to worry as there is no way to run out of this situation but he realized that he has his Servant at his command.

"Can you do something about this?" Pierce asking him worriedly.

"Simple, I'll clear them out for you." The old man replies and continues to walk toward the forest.

The soldiers begin to stand still when they saw an old man, hand wielding the lever-action rifle as he smiling at them.

"Who are you!?" A German soldier speaks.

The man kindly answered back in German: "I'm just a man who is going to protect the units that you were all pursuing."

"Don't fool with us! All units, open fire!" The opposing soldier commands all his soldiers to fire at the old man. Unfortunately for them, he was already out of the bullets' way. His lever-action rifle was no ordinary. It was fueled by his mana, blasting attack that was impossible with normal ones. The enemies' weapon was enchanted with mana to a ridiculous degree but all of them were barely able to hit him when he is moving with a speed that is impossible for humans, some can only barely scratch him. The wound drew his blood slightly but his enemy was all blowing apart to pieces of gore. No matter how much you can enchant ones' armor, it would never be able to withstand a Servant's attack. The old man's simple gunshot literally blowing the land with a power akin to an artillery shell. The enemy squad is in disarray even when they try to withstand against him.

"It is time to end this charade for once and for all!" The Archer speaks up. That moment, the enemies' fate is sealed.

Many large explosions went on in the forest. Pierce has now seen the power of his Servant, that man is sure is a force to be reckoned with. Afterward, the old man finally returns, he comes out with the lever-action rifle of his. The Archer finally speaks.

"So you have seen it right?"

"Yes..." Pierce was dumbfounded to see such a devastating strength like that, he has no word left to say about him.

"So, it is time for me to speak my True Name, my master." The Archer speaks.

"True Name?" Pierce confused

"A Servant's True Name is important as they are the key which could unlock entire information regards of them, even Noble Phantasm." the Archer answered back.

"Hold on, Noble Phantasm? What is that?" Pierce asking back.

"A Noble Phantasm is what represents the entirety of the Servant itself, their glory, their greatest attack, greatest invention, or what represents their entire life, etc... You know the drill." The old man answers back.

"Okay then, what is your True Na-" Before Pierce said all he wanted to. The magus that he forget that still there is jumping in joy and saying: "Yes! Yes! YES!".

"I found the strongbox which contains the handle of the Sharktooth blade which belonged Quetzalcoatl, now I finally have something to protect me in this unknown land!"

When the magus was using the mana-containing gem in the box he held onto in order to summon said Servant, Archer felt something is wrong. He quickly grabs anyone close to the magus's vicinity and gets away as far as possible. The next moment when said Spirit Origin appeared, a blinding pillar of light from the sky came crash upon the magus and anything close to him. The next moment, only a large crater is in place of where the magus was. Everyone there was dumbfounded and shocked at what has just transpired. They soon realized all those 6 years ignorant of the world could soon become the price that could cost them dearly.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Unwelcomed Guest**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**The master of Chaldea Gudao Fujimaru soon landed in the singularity but he supposed to land in Berlin, Germany, not somewhere unknown to him. The support from Shadow Border soon tells him that something in Berlin is causing the landing point to move unstable towards anywhere that isn't Berlin.**

** Da Vinci said that he is too undermanned and it would be suicidal to proceed with only 1 Servant so they told him to find a leyline in order to get more Servants to his side. **

**She also said if whatever is there can easily move rayshifting point like that then they'll need far more power than what he has right now. The surrounding scan shows that the mana density and mystery all unnaturally high for near-modern age, it is even comparable to the middle age itself right now. The area has some mystic beings that were supposed to be gone by this era.**

Not that they would pose a challenge to the Servant he brought.

"Humph, after what happened in the Incineration of Humanity and many Lostbelts, these things all are lower than child's play." Gudao's Servant snickered after he killed all of those beasts that came at him.

The Servant that Gudao brings in is no ordinary Heroic Spirit, the man who swore to protect everyone's happiness and paid the price for such an impossible dream, even then he still follows it with all the convictions in his heart. Gudao right now is wearing a scarf that has mana filter property which is useful when he has to go to any time of the old so he doesn't suffocate from mana overdose.

"The mana here is really high here too. If you make a normal HGW summoning circle here, it would even work." The Servant adds his words.

"So you're familiar with this HGW thing right? Emiya?." The Master asked.

"Yes... Not that you need to know about it though..." Emiya answered back.

They keep chatting with each other while finding a leyline to summon the other Servants for him. The reason that Gudao has many Servants following him and respect him is because of his earnest and honest nature, carrying a heart of gold and a caring will for everyone around him regardless of their alignments or their backstory. An average magus would hardly able to make a relationship with a Servant, let alone keep it well at all.

After a while, they managed to find a leyline, Gudao quickly draws the summoning circle in order to rayshift his Servant, Gilgamesh on the other side is warning Gudao that bringing any Servant other than Emiya family will have a fatal consequence. Sitonai who also in the family were abstained from following due to the fact that her Spirit Origin belongs to the tales of an old goddess, and she definitely not happy about this.

Two Servants, one who was wearing a dress that was made for a certain ritual, she has pure white hair, innocent like personality and motherly heart. The other one also has white hair and tanned skin like the one Gudao bring with, having a tired-looking expression on his face, wearing a red cape and hood, gray armor and black clothing. As they are walking toward the rayshift point. These two are someone who is very important for the Servant that Gudao has brought with during his initial deployment. It is because they were Emiya's mother and father. The light brightens the space around them as it brings them toward their rayshift point, where their son is.

A moment later, they appeared in front of their son as they both smiling at him.

"Okaa-san, Jii-san." Emiya smiles.

"Good to see you, son..." The hooded Servant answers back.

"It's nice to see you being well too" the mother also replies.

Originally, his father belongs to a timeline where he never met his mother, and turn himself into a machine that saves more lives at the price of fewer lives. He eventually got pick up by the Throne of Heroes but lost all his emotions in the process of being the said machine and most of his memory is muddled up. But thanks to the unique summoning of the FATE summoning system, he got the memory of the time he met his mother thanks to the summoning can summon duplicates that collapse into orbs which are called Memorial Essence that act as part of their memory from other timelines. He first hesitant and try to deny it but love is a drug of pure emotions that bring back all of what is lost to him and the rest were histories. His mother was an artificial human that was made specifically for a certain ritual that would have sacrificed her life away. She was the vessel of a wish-granting device and would have become so if it weren't for Chaldea intervene in the situation and finding out that said thing has been corrupted and would have destroyed the world if not resolved, she was the target of his father who was sent back in time by the World before he obtained the memory of alternate him. After the events that transpired, she eventually becomes a Heroic Spirit due to the component that would turn her into a wish-granting device had turned into a Miracle itself, she soon follows Chaldea afterward.

"So what should we do next, Kiritsugu," Gudao asks the assassin.

"I'll check the south for anything, Iri will follow me in case we got into any enemy that could potentially harm us. Son, you check the north and skirmish the area or find anything that could tell us where we are." The assassin devises his plan.

"Got it, Jii-san." The son receives the assassin's word.

The archer quickly tries to check up the north for anything that could help them, Gudao uses reinforce on his legs to move as quickly as possible. Thank god that he actually learned structure grasping during downtime in order to do so without repercussion. A few hours later, with 2 hours before dusk. The archer came back with nothing that could potentially help them at all. Emiya decided they'll need a place to rest before doing anything next while waiting for his parents to come back. Just when he begins to set things up, his parents came back to report what they find.

"So what did you find?" The archer asks his parents.

"We search in the south for a bit and we came across what looked like a destroyed defense line. A magecraft reinforced and well-protected with concrete and steel buffer one at that." His father answered.

"Reinforced by magecraft?" The archer confused, they're supposed to be not much mystery left yet...

"Yeah, and what it appeared that it was destroyed quite recently too. A day ago no less. The corpses or to be exact, pieces of whatever remain there wear the same uniform base on the tattered clothes. " His mother jumps into the conversation.

"Someone destroyed a reinforced defense line where there is not even a sort of base in the surrounding area at all. It can only be a Servant who did this." Gudao tries to pieces together the information.

"But who? There is no one we know in here has Anti-Fortress NP of the sort could do this, as far as we know" The caster gives her opinion.

Suddenly, a blast of light from the sky appeared from a fair distance away from them. Both the master and the Servants notice it and soon they decided to search where the light was. They rush with the speed that can make the fastest wind eat dust towards where would be their next lead.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Awakening Will**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

_**A forgotten land where the dead lies, an empty field where it all devoid of life. The wasteland where the sun would never shine. Only eternal damnation remains in this hell.**_

_**"What's happening here?"**_

_**"Only pitch black here, I need to do something..."**_

_**"Ugh, wake up!"**_

_**"Wake up, stupid me!"**_

_**"Why can't I wake up!?"**_

_**"Damn it! I refuse to go out like this!"**_

_**"WAKE UP YOU STUPID FUCK!"**_

_**A mental battle between life and death, both sides refuse to yield. But the mental resolve is gaining its hold. Whoever it is, they sure going to make it. For the first time in this hell. A will has been awakened.**_

The man finally able to open his eyes, and the first glimpse he sees is a looming raining dark cloud that seems to has been there for all eternity. When he finally managed to lift himself up, all he saw is an empty wasteland where corpses sprawl all over the fog of war covers everything he can see, he can't even tell where he was. They were decayed to the point they're just skeleton remain. His eyes went empty, this is where he awakens, just what is this hell...

The rotten smell of death flows through the air. Large craters which are full of mud having skeleton arms protruding out of its surface as if they tried to escape their death. Even what seems like a sort of vehicle wasn't exempt from the same fate. The only thing that was alive in this hell is him.

There is no way to describe this hell except for one word: hopeless. There's the only hopeless as far as he can see, he tried to remember why he's here, who he is, where he is but his mind is only drawing a blank and when he tried to find anything locked in the back of his mind, his head hurts like being crush alive.

He thought his sanity fell to zero as he wanders aimlessly until he sees the light of sort. He rushed at it thinking that it is his only hope of getting out of this hell. But when he gets closer, he sees a shack or storage of sort and a group of soldiers yet he felt a suspicious intent coursing through the air near those soldiers. He knew they aren't anything that is good so he decided to hide somewhere nearby them first. He notices that there is a trench nearby so he decided to silently drop in it and getting close to those soldiers to see what are they up to.

They're speaking in German yet he somehow understands what they are saying, was he a German by chance? Not taking the risk, he decided to eavesdrop what they have to say.

"Geez, why are we here in the first place? This is just an empty wasteland that has literally nothing in it yet we have to stay guard in this hell!" A soldier complained.

"You know what this place is right? I heard the higher-up said this place was once a battlefield of where the nastiest battle was fought and in the end, this place never be able to return to what it was due to this place for some reason rains 24/7 and it became a cursed ground for evil spirits. I don't know when the battle was fought, maybe 20-30 years ago, perhaps? Anyway, since evil spirits actually came out of this place, we were equipped with light element magecraft bullet against these things to protect this convoy checkpoint." The lieutenant doesn't bother about rank or informal anymore since he wasn't paid enough for this anyway.

"Still, don't we have something more worrying like Servants?" a soldier asked.

"Well, thankfully we don't have to deal with those yet, thanks to Evangelion Kill Sat in order to destroy those Servants and anything around them. EKS was the collaboration project between Science and Magecraft Division." the lieutenant answered.

"Wouldn't some Servants have an extreme amount of defense that EKS couldn't kill them, right?" a soldier asked

"That's why EKS was a masterpiece of itself. The thing is akin to True Magic if I heard it correctly since it doubles as Kill Sat and Pinpoint Satelite. Its power is all calculated in the NP scale. You take the Servant's age(current year - Servant's death year) multiply with their Spirit Origin value and again with their divinity and square up with said Servant's defense value. There is no way for any Servant to survive like that, save for those with Absolute Defense NP, which the number was barely able to be count on your fingers." the lieutenant answered."

"Why do we not just put the kill zone by today instead of 1900?" a soldier asked.

"Well, you know that EKS wasn't made to differentiate allies or enemies due to time constraints, and the higher-up doesn't want to pass up such a powerful force like that."

"I heard that the report finds out that there are 3 Spirit Origin with the year of over 2000 found in northern Poland, is it something worrying?" A soldier asks nervously.

"Heroes from future huh?, Nothing to worry about. The higher the year value the weaker their parameter unless they have some sort of overpowered NP, that's when we would be worried about it. I would be more concerned about that one with the year value of 1901. Literally one year from triggering EKS which steamrolled a Warmancht squad that was sent to destroy the last remnants of the USA army. But anyway, a Servant is still a Servant, you don't fight it head-on, no matter what." the lieutenant answered.

"Why don't we move the killing year by 1 to erase the one you talked about, I mean there can't be any backfire, right?" a soldier asked.

"Except there is, if we tampered the code even by the slightest margin without the proper knowledge of a high-ranked researcher of the Magecraft Division, the EKS will soon become stardust in the sky, leave us vulnerable to the enemy." the lieutenant answered

"How often does it update its Spirit Origin location and what is the range of EKS, lieutenant?" a soldier got interested in the things in the sky itself.

"The range of the thing is how far the Third Riech goes, I guess?, not even the Magecraft Division can tell even when they were the one took part in its creation. And how often it updates? a week or 2, maybe... But really, the things just only update when it felt like it. Like True Magic, it is completely incomprehensible." the lieutenant answered.

"I heard of that a defense line in the east of our got destroyed by a Servant, can the higher-up resolve it?." a soldier nervously asked.

"Unfortunately, I doubt they can resolve it let alone do it "efficiently", the EKS picked up its year value is "?" and the Science Division is smashing their brain trying to find out what that thing is so yeah, we probably screwed." the lieutenant nervously answered.

"How did you know all of this?" a soldier realized he is far more knowledgeable than how he appeared.

"Well, if you have a bunch of higher-up thinking we are literally a step away from victory, they don't care about privacy or secrecy at all, they just speak it for everyone regardless of who they are talking to." the lieutenant answered

They keep talking with each other while the man hiding in the trench nearby them keeps eavesdrop them for any information that could help him, that's until a Doberman smelled something and it's getting to close to him. He quickly tried to find anything that could help him to protect himself he notices that he has been sitting next to a skeleton with tattered clothes holding a rusted bolt-action rifle with a rusted bayonet attached to it, in the corpse's pocket has a rusted bullet. It is better than nothing as he quickly grabbed it and reloading it with the said bullet. When the Doberman spots him, it barks at him which makes the soldiers notice it and they begin pointing their weapons at whatever it's barking at. As soon as they started seeing him. He jumps out of the trench and firing the gun at them. But unfortunately, the rifle still has its spear unused bullets that were rusted and the rifle blew up in his hand and the bullet went the different way it supposed to.

Except said bullet exploded with the power of artillery. The soldiers realized what they were up against, they clammed up. The next moment, they run away as fast as their legs can carry and didn't look at where they were running. What greets them soon is a wall that knocks all of them out as they crash into it. He doubts they would wake up anytime soon, let alone remember what happened.

The Doberman still trying to maul him. He just decided to shank it with the bayonet part that blown off from the gun and get on with it. However, the moment he shanks it, he has just blown the dog to pieces with his sheer "strength", dumbfound of what just happened, he wondered if he is even humane at this point.

Not that he needs to get more headaches right now. He got his chance to rest and planning of what's to come. He gets into the cottage that was called a checkpoint, doubles as supply storages. He taking a good look inside and managed to find a map, finally did he get to know where he is. Unfortunately, the map just literally most of Europe written as Third Reich, no exact address at all. He keeps searching for anything that can help him out.

When he started looking at the gun storage, a memory flashed in his mind. He was holding a rifle, an old model of sorts, but his surrounding was pure white as if he was in the emptiness. He snapped out of it soon and keep searching for things when he looking at the mirror, he realized he was wearing a WWI military attire, could be wrong though. He's been wearing a cape from who knows when. He has the usual black hair and mustache.

When he looking at the report table, he saw a news headline that said Poland has finally fallen after 6 years under heavy siege. The news headline was published 2 days ago from now. He did remember the soldier said something about a defense line was destroyed and wonder if those two connect. He writes out where the location then marked on the map since he's going to take it with him anyway, it is far better than going nowhere.

He decided to filter out any information he has before planning his next move, he knew of the fact that there are 3 future Servants of beyond 2000 in Poland, and Poland itself has been fallen. He made his decision, he'll have to find them if he wanted to find any identity regards of himself or else he'll be left in the dust.

Donning in the clothes of a Nazi soldier in order to disguise of convoy driver, he will drive to Poland and as long he doesn't drive through Berlin, he'll reach there with no suspicion on him eventually. He set out with conviction as the daybreak begins, moving toward the new day even if the sun will never shine in this land.

* * *

_**Servants Profile**_

_**Warning!: This is Servant Spoiler for those who are not familiar to Fate series.**_

_**Wise Up!**_

_**-Chaldea**_

_*** Only Chaldean Servants got skill strengthening due to bond, experience and Memorial Essence accumulated throughout their journey.**_

_**Class: Archer**_

_True Name:_ _Shirou Emiya_

_Parameter:_

_Str: D | __Agi: C | __End: C | __Mana: B | __Luck: E | __NP: ?_

_Passive Skills:_

_Magic Resistance D: This Servant is immune to any magic attack of rank D below_

_Independent Action B: Even if Emiya received fatal damage upon his spiritual core, he can still survive for a short time._

_Personal Skills:_

_-Eye of the Mind (True) B:_

_Insight cultivated from training and learning.  
The "logic of battle" to calmly grasp one's situation and the abilities of the enemy, and find out a mean of escape when in  
dilemma.  
If the possibility of a reversal is 1%, a chance can be pulled out by putting this strategy to practice.  
Something falsely similar to the skill Instinct._

**_=}(Strengthened) Seven Rings of Heaven (Near-absolute Defense) A+_**

**_A Noble Phantasm that Emiya got his hand on and capable of projecting said thing. A seven-layered Bounded Field with each layer as powerful as a fortress wall. It is shaped in the flower that blooms from Aias's blood upon his death. In order to keep the shield up, its user must provide it with magical energy to keep its form up. If a layer got destroyed, its user will also receive damage and pain in correspondence. Emiya usually uses it with a purpose to protect everyone around him._**

_-Clairvoyance C:_

_Can keeping track of fast-moving target within a range of four-kilometer. Emiya acquires this by applying Reinforcement to his eyes._

**_=}(Strengthened_****_) Hawkeye B+_**

**_Perfected combination and mastery of Advanced Structure Grasping and Clairvoyance, Emiya can easily find the enemy's weak points or openings. He can land multiple fatal blows or crippling strikes consecutively in quick succession by the uses of this skill in CQC combat._**

_-Magecraft C-_

_Capable of using orthodox thaumaturgy. Emiya can use Reinforcement to increase the essence of the tool he uses temporarily and Structure Grasping to grasp the structure of the substance including living beings. Most of other magecraft, if used by him, would just have dissatisfaction results against any other Servants._

**_=}(Strengthened) Projection A_**

**_Emiya has been using Reinforcement and Structure Grasping ever since he was young and do so repeatedly for 10 years with only those spells. Combined with "Sword" origin, he can near-perfect tracing and projecting blades, melee weapons and Noble Phantasm. Shields and other defensive measurements would cost more mana. Projection can only go so far if Emiya doesn't have the bond or understanding of its original wielder and rely completely on one sense. Without it, all NPs he traces would suffer a rank down._**

_**Noble Phantasm:**_

_**|Unlimited Blade Work|  
**__**Infinite Creation of Swords**_

_**Rank E-A++ | Classification: Reality Marble. Anti-Army | **_

_"I am the bone of my sword_  
_Steel is my body and fire is my blood_  
_I have created over a thousand blades_  
_Unknown to Death,_  
_Nor known to Life._  
_Have withstood pain to create many weapons_  
_Yet, those hands will never hold anything_  
_So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works."_

_Emiya has no true Noble Phantasm, but if a Noble Phantasm is what represents the entirety of the hero itself then this would be what he called his true Noble Phantasm. An open, barren desert with monolithic black gears gyrating in the distance, with thousands if not countless blades littering the landscapes, anchored to the grounds like a grave marker of an unknown battlefield, it was where his path as human life truly end as it forever etched in his mind. But after seeing the conviction of his younger self. He continues to walk this path even if there's no happiness to be found._

_The reality marble grants him ability project swords instantaneously and effortlessly and fires them as large barrages and allows him to be able to project Divine Construct but usually at the cost his life as it would drain all of his mana without the use of Command Seals. The reality marble has a large mana cost to maintain it from collapsing upon itself._

_**|^&*^%$|**_

_***Not revealed until breaking point***_

**_"""":...:""""_**

_**Class: Assassin**_

_True Name:__ Kiritsugu Emiya_

_Parameter:_

_Str: D | Agi: A+ | End: C | Mana: C | Luck: E | NP: B++_

_Passive Skills:_

_Presence Concealment A+: __Hides one's presence as a Servant. Suitable for spying. It is possible to disappear completely and become almost impossible to be detected, even against a Servant's perception. However, efficiency will decrease once preparations to attack are taken._

_Independent Action A: It is possible to take action even without a Master. However, to use Noble Phantasms of great magical energy consumption, backup from the Master is necessary. At Rank A, it is possible for a Servant to stay in the world for about a week without a Master._

_Personal Skills:_

_-Magecraft B: Capable of using magecraft. In return, because of having knowledge about magecraft, he is good at the art of killing magi, being notoriously known as the 'Magus Killer' back when he was alive. The ranking of this Skill primarily works as a bonus to his various checks when fighting against Casters._

**_=}(Strengthened_****_) Chronomaturgy B+_**

**_Using his inherited Emiya clan Time crest or to be exact, part of what remains. Kiritsugu can use Time Alter to boost one's performance and speed beyond what originally is. It can be applied to objects like bullets, guns, vehicles, and allies, but using Time Alter on allies or himself will cause time dislocation which will begin to harm said Servant from inside due to enforced time flow recorrection. The higher the accelerating speed is, the deadlier the side effect. One can reduce the side effect by using passive healing Noble Phantasm._**

**_-_**_Affection of the Holy Grail A+: _

_He is being deeply loved by the Holy Grail from some era._

_Such love is just like the greatest curse in the world. _  
_Due to the existence of this Skill, his Luck Rank will be flipped up when activated. It is possible to even breakthrough the abilities of enemy Servants that cannot be overcome except in specific conditions._  
_However, this good fortune mercilessly steals the happiness of others._

**_=}(Strengthened_****_) Married Fate EX_**

**_Thanks to the FATE summoning system, the memories of his alternate past self have brought back what was lost to him. The ability to feel, the memories of being loved. He used to deny it at first but the memories were all too real that if he felt almost like his own, soon he came to accept it and became dedicated to the cause of Chaldea, to protect the world from any calamities that can destroy humanity itself. Like a hardened soldier return home from his time in service to see his lovely family and being a father for his children, thanks to the acceptance of his newfound memory, this skill eventually changed as it allows a greater extent even if it's only by a slight margin and the demerit will be removed as long as his wife protecting him or nearby his vicinity._**

_-Scapegoat C:_

_This is the accumulation of cunning techniques designed to escape the battlefield in one piece._

**_=}(Strengthened_****_) Diversion Ambush A_**

**_A combination of all his cunning tactics and techniques in order to lure his enemies into his traps. If he managed to land a surprise attack or ambush, said attack will increase a full rank in strength, Noble Phantasm included._**

**_Noble Phantasm_**

_**|Chronos Rose**__**|  
Pick Ye Rose Bud While Ye May**_

_**Rank B+ **__**| Classification: Anti-Unit |**_

_"A rose that bloom today shall wither away tomorrow"_

_Chronos Rose.  
Time flows, and the flower that smiles today shall wither away completely tomorrow.  
The ability to manipulate one's own time flow.  
It uses the ability he had while alive "inherent time control (Time Alter)" as a basis. _

_**|Phantasm Punishment**__**|  
Mystery Bisection  
**_

_**Rank C+ **__**| Classification: Anti-Unit |**_

_This weapon is a knife that has__ the double attribute of "_Severing and Binding_", __its power put into a knife and sublimated as a Noble Phantasm of the Counter Guardian. It is the same knife he uses for his usual time manipulation attacks, his Origin made form and the knife being the embodiment of it. It inflicts fatal damage towards enemies that possesses magic circuits and magic crests or anything similar inside their bodies. The ability is invoked according to its True Name release._

_**|^%^%&^%&^$$## |**_

_***Not revealed until breaking point***_

**_"""":...:""""_**

_**Class: Caster**_

_True Name:__ Irisviel von Einzbern_

_Parameter:_

_Str: E | Agi: C | End: E | Mana: A+ | Luck: B | NP: B |_

_Passive Skills:_

_-Territory Creation B: Allows her to create a "Workshop". Not that she would ever use it as she would always be close to her husband no matter what._

_-Goddess' Essence C: _A Skill that expresses being a perfected goddess.  
Although her disposition is close to one, since she is not a Bunrei from a proper Divine Spirit, so its rank is confined to C.

_Personal Skills:_

_-Sacrificial Resolve A: _Feelings towards a loved one, which won't even flinch at self-sacrifice.  
Applies plus modifiers in regards to the effectiveness of defense・healing-type magecraft, Skills, and items.

**_=}(Strengthened_****_) Heaven's Feel EX_**

_**Heaven's Feel is a magic that allows for the materialization of the soul, which stops the inevitable dispersion of the soul once it became unable to anchor to the world, also called as Third Magic. Born from her unbounded love for her own family and those who are close to her, she awakened to it during Chaldea's final hours. The result is that she can use Third Magic even though the effect is limited, it is more than enough to keep her allies from dying and fade away, especially during the time after the FATE summoning system was shut down during the fall of Chaldea**__**.**_

_-Child of Nature A: _a Skill that represents one as a child born in the Reverse Side of the World that will eventually become the same. Even if they are not naturally occurring life, but living things created by human hands, sometimes even they can receive great blessings from the World.

-Healing Magecraft A: Irisviel as a Servant can exercise advanced healing magecraft.

**_=}(Strengthened_****_) Lament of Innocence A+++_**

**_Like her own innocence-like personality, pure from filth and blight, her healing magecraft now has far greater effect and can remove any ailments and curses from those she dedicated to._**

**_Noble Phantasm_**

_**|Song of Grail**__**|  
**__**Sing Out, O' White Grail**_

_**Rank B **__**| Classification: Grand Magecraft (Near Magic) **_

_Song of Grail._  
_Connecting the Holy Grail with love and motherhood, it temporarily grants a sincere and pure prayer. Not the function as a wish-device, but simply a Noble Phantasm that her own existence sublimated. A Noble Phantasm that once in effect, those who are around her will always survive the next fatal attack no matter what it is._

**_"""":...:""""_**

**_-Pierce's Servant_**

**_Class: Archer_**

_True Name:__ ?_

_Parameter:  
__Str: D __| Agi: C __| End: C __| Mana: B __| Luck: Unk __| NP: Unk __|  
__W. up! __ W. up! __| W. up__! __|W. up__!_

_Passive Skills:  
-"Unknown"_

_-Independent Action B+: This Servant can stay in this world without a Master for four to five days. That's if they conserve their mana._

_Personal Skills:_

_-Dauntless Will B: Even in a situation where there's no escape, this Servant will found an escape path of the said condition regardless of conditions. **[****Wise up!]**_

_-"Unknown"_

_-"Unknown"_

**_Noble Phantasm_**

**_"Unknown"_**

* * *

**_Thank god that I managed to get this done, now I know how many fanfic writers actually feel right now. Anyway, if you enjoy this fic then leave a review so I can improve myself further, any criticism is accepted so I can improve the quality of this fic further. Until the next time, enjoy._**


	3. Gathering What's Lost

**Warning: ****Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Chapter 3: Gathering What's Lost.**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

_**Somewhere in North Poland shore [**__**1950]**_

**The Chaldean has finally arrived as they seeing a large smoking crater and a squad of soldiers standing in front of it. Pierce's squad took a moment to realized what's going on and they were surprised when they saw someone beside them were here. Pierce gathers his guts and ask.**

"Who are you?" Pierce trying to be as calm as he can but his nervousness would soon get the upper hand since he can felt the radiating power of the 3 Servants behind the man he talks to.

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet. The name is Gudao Fujimaru, the master of Chaldea, this is my 3 Servants I pick for this mission."

"Had you only bring the man with dual blades with you, you could have fooled me that was a Chinese legend of sorts, but the other man with the same hair and tanned skin told me otherwise" The old man speaks.

"Hump, you sure have the insight, old man." The tanned archer said back.

"I have a question, you said, you're the master of Chaldea, so what is the Chaldea you talk about?." Pierce wanted to learn more about these new turns of events.

"Well, to be fair, it is more like what's left of it. I was tasked with the duty of repairing and eliminating any threats that can possibly harm the foundation of humanity itself. I have estimated 200 Servants under my command. All out of respects and wishes to aid me in my duty." Gudao said.

Only silence remains. If one can already be so destructive then just imagine over 200 would do. That man would be unstoppable.

"Before any of you get any wrong ideas. I can't bring too much or else I die from mana exhaustion. Plus there is something here that causes my existence here to be destroyed had I bring anyone else with me other than these 3." Gudao replied.

"Yeah, we received warning from Da Vinci and Gilgamesh that if anyone is here except us, he would get killed from the moment he lands, is that right Shirou-kun?" The caster said

"Okaa-san! Don't just go saying critical information out loud like that!" The archer panics.

"Humm... I don't have any clue about who this hero whose name is Shirou, but I'm sure as hell that a Chinese legend doesn't have a Westerner mother, a magical one, with almost no affiliation to the east." The old man said.

"Seems like you need to learn of not speaking any important information." The assassin remarks his son.

"Jii-san!" And the next moment the archer facepalmed himself for doing the same mistake as his mother did.

"And your dad ain't looks like an Easterner at all as if the only thing that binds you all is just your hair color. Like did your parents all forgotten and left you at the East then went to become famous themselves and then you did the same?" the old man mused.

"Let just say that the thing that connects us together is our fate." The tanned archer speaks.

"Seems like that, I guess..." the old man breaks out a small laugh.

"Anyway, what is that large crater over there?" Gudao asked.

"From what I last heard from that magus over the place that crater took, he tried to summon a Servant named "Quetzalcoatl" and guess what happened," Pierce replied, knowing that he didn't exactly want him to die, dealing with a person with an insufferable personality like him would be far worse than death.

Everyone silently looking at the crater, shuddering off the possibility of getting hit with such unfathomable force. Pierce thanks himself for summoning with that crank and not something that could obliterate him. Gudao is going to thank Gilgamesh after this singularity is over.

"By the way, that old man is your Servants, isn't it?" Gudao asked.

"Well, yes. And right when I was about to ask his True Name and you know the next thing that happened. I wonder how you managed to summon so much Servants in the first place." Pierce replied.

"Well, trade secret. So shall we lend each other a hand? We both undermanned for this entire place." Gudao replied.

Pierce thinking while taking a look at the Servants in front of him. All 3 of them extrude such strength that somehow surpasses his. And the two over there behind the tanned archer, he could felt that if they combined their strength, a squad of Servants would still be defeated by them. Not that backstabbing anyone is a good idea in the first place, his nature would make it impossible to do so. Because of that, Pierce gives out his hand to shake Gudao's.

"Okay, I agree to this too. We would need any help we can get right now." Pierce asked

"But first, we should getting out of this place soon, the Wehrmacht would probably scour this place up again, this crater would also basically screaming somebody is here too." The old man warns.

"Yeah, we should get out of here soon too" The assassin gives his words.

All of them eventually trying to run as far from the place they were. Pierce's squad were just normal people, they can't run fast like Servants, because of that everyone doesn't make much distance at all. Soon, the nightfall begins, they build a campfire and Da Vinci sends them a cooking pot through rayshifting. Emiya decided to cook with whatever he founds in the surroundings to be able to be used as a good ingredient to make meals with. Everyone gather around the campfire to get their dinner.

"Thank god! A goddamn proper meal! I sicked of eating smoked wild vegetables for those 6 years!" A soldier cried in happiness as he having his dinner

"Man... It's been 6 years since I ever having a proper and fulfilling meal." Another soldier smile while eating the meal.

"For a Heroic Spirit, you sure having great culinary skills" The old man smiled with the meal in his hand.

"Yeah, I surprised that you don't appear to have an exaggerated appearance at all." The tanned archer replied.

"What do you mean, young man?" The old man got curious about what the tanned archer is saying.

"I am a Servant of Chaldea, working, cooperating, and living a life with the other 200 Servants, it is like a community of heroes. What I'm trying to say here that if you were in Holy Grail War. You can't ever guess a Servant's identity based on their appearance, not counting the Morph skills." the tanned archer explained.

"Wait, can you explain it further, please?" The old man actually confused about what he is saying.

"What I'm saying here is that a Servant appearance also differs greatly between timeline. You know the principal of multiverse and alternate timelines, right? It is called the **Second Magic.** Back when I was alive, I got my chance to actually taught under Zelretch, the Second Magician about it for a certain time until I move out with my ideal to become a Hero of Justice. Because of that, I can use the Kaleidoscope. I see many possibilities and alternate timelines such as my father never accept his memory as a father, I don't have my parents in Chaldea, My master was a girl, etc. You know the drill." Emiya explained with an info dump right on the bat.

The old man was speechless by such an explanation, the idea of multiverse just something too much even for a Servant like him.

"Would you like me to tell that Jack the Ripper is a little girl wearing a thong?" Emiya hit the final nails in the Servant's uncertainty.

The old man just decided to give up. He can't argue with something out of his league like that at all.

"This is quite lively, isn't it?" Pierce whisper to himself.

The sky was cloudy like always, he can't see the stars but it sure as hell that it won't rain in the slightest, he sent his silent prayer out there hoping that one day he'll finally reach toward the safe tomorrow where he'll finally be united with his sister if she stills alive.

The night is still young.

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_**Searching from the Ruins**_

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**He finally arrived, the ruin of Poland's capital, Warsaw. Six years under siege, six years uprising. They all fall into dust of their ruined last hope. Most of the place has fallen into rubbles and he can barely find anything that would help him at all. Searching in the ruins of the fallen, he connects every information he has.**

He walks around in the ruin, the dark night has already befallen on these places, not even the moon able to shines through the dark cloud, he turns on his flashlight in order to seek any clues to what had happened during all these years. Seeing the corpses and rusted equipment and as he analyzes it, he isn't convinced that such lowly made weaponry can actually stand up to overpowered German forces. There has to be something else that can help him. Anything that can help him. He keeps walking around, the stench of the death of the nameless makes the whole place felt unnervingly eerie.

"There has to be a way. Perhaps I need to think like them" The military man turns his way of thinking around.

He searches for places that the resistances may hide. The sewer is his best bet. He quickly uncovered a manhole that leads to the sewer. He decided to jump down into the system itself. The place is stinking but the surface above him is far worse. He keeps wandering around the abandoned system, that was until he managed to found a secret door that led into the secret room of sorts. As his observance skill paid off, he opened the door as the inside is a steel-floored office with an array of communicating devices and documents were held onto a shelf, seems like the Nazi didn't manage to find this room as it was completely unscathed from the calamity above. He checks if the arrays is still working.

"They can still function, just out of power," he said.

He continues on searching and decided to check the documents or to be exact, a diary of sorts.

"**October 1, 1944**

This is hopeless, we can't possibly continue on like this, those Nazi soldiers have suddenly increased in firepower and they slaughtering our good men and soldiers. This is hopeless, perhaps I should seal myself forever in this place.

** October 2, 1944**

Somebody opened the door, I almost pissed myself but the person that comes in wasn't those Nazi soldiers at all. It is a man wearing a suit holding on to something. He said he's a magus and he comes to deploy this last resort. I don't understand what he is talking about as he drawing a circle of sorts. The next moments, he puts something in there, it looks like a helmet of sorts. Then he channels the circle with all the power he has. An armored figure appeared, extruding a powerful aura while asking that if the magus was his master. The magus quickly told the figures to go outside and fightbacks against those Nazis.

**A few hours later, the same day.**

Unbelievable, the Nazi is actually being driven back by him. As bombardment rains from the sky, crushing enemy squads with unbelievable power. The figure calls forth the Winged Hussar to eliminate any remaining stragglers. There is no doubt about it anymore. The Winged Hussar has arrived!

*Many more chapters later*

**March 15, 1945**

People managed to be able to finally live a somewhat normal life. Even if the Nazi keeps trying to attempt to destroy the capital for every 2-3 months, the Winged Hussar would easily dispatch those things. Us people have comes to worship the man who makes this possible, the person who summons the Winged Hussar in the first place. He simply said that there are two things he takes pride most. His pride as a magus and higher than that is his pride for the country he was born in. He won't stand still to see the nation that he loves so much fallen.

*Quite a lot of chapters later*

**April 5, 1947**

Another Servant who joins our side. As unfortunate as the fact that he dealt literally zero damage even as a Servant even if he wanted to wield something, he still very helpful as he helps to bring the wounded to the safety.

*Lots of chapters later*

**October 21, 1950**

We received the horrible news that the leyline which fueled the power of Heroic Spirits he summons has somehow been destroyed. Without it, the Winged Hussar would be no more and we would be instantly wiped out. Many were in denial of what happened. Doomsaying was rampant and it already destroyed our already low morale. The magus has decided that everyone will flee while he and his Servant will be staying to stall this inevitability. He said that if the people of Poland were still alive then Poland won't be fallen, even if the nation is no more. We became silent, don't know what to do in this fate.

**October 22, 1950**

This is it. We'll be moving out, this will be my last entry. If you somehow managed to find this, I have left the exact location on the map to find this evacuation zone. May Poland will be going strong in the heart of its people!

P.S: I hope this won't become something that I'll regret deeply if it fell into the wrong hand."

After taking a quick look through the dairy, a map with a marked location is kept as the last page in the book. He quickly marks his map in order to be able to head to said location, he also decided to takes the radio communicating devices with him since he could find a use for those. He quickly put neatly of all the comms parts into an empty box and quickly tracing his steps back into the surface area.

"Finally, now I just need to find this evacuation point. Hopefully, it won't be an empty abandoned area." The man taking a breather after managed to find a clue of what to do next.

When he was about to head to the truck to load the box. He notices something wrong, something that isn't supposed to be here. He quickly grabs his flashlight and points it towards where he suspects. He sees a white hawk staring at him, he doesn't know why but that hawk can't be anything good, he slowly but surely trying to get out of its sight but the things kept staring at him. He felt if he made a wrong move, he's going to get killed for sure.

Because of that, he stands still while staring at it as the hawk staring at his soul. A bit later, the hawk flies away. He let out a breath of relief as if he avoided death itself. He feared that the hawk is probably going to be the reason that he's going to be in deep trouble. Not that is it worth to get himself stressed out anymore, he needs to get to the evacuation point as fast as he could. He loads the box on the truck and quickly gets on and move out as fast as he can.

This is going to be a long night.

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_**Protectors of Last Hope**_

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**At the evacuation area **

**It was a cloudy and windy night, a small village built hastily in order to accommodate evacuees. Tonight, everyone will at least able to have a good night without sleeping outside in cold weather. Two Servants who were received their duties to protect the evacuees at all cost. This was the remains of the Warsaw populace, the last of Poland itself.**

_**Words of God:** _ **For the idea of what does the Finnish looks, searches for Carlos from Zero Time Dilemma**

"Hey, do you think you can keep up watching over the villages?" A Servant wearing a white coat speaking to other Servant wearing what appeared to belong to the US army.

The man in the white coat has blond hair and a stern expression. He looks extremely tense and serious about every situation and can't sweat things up at all. The white coat he wore seems to be a part of the winter gear that was often used by soldiers but he just wears it 24/7.

"Say what you want, but you are the only person who can fight back." The US Servant replied.

"Jeez, I don't know what you did back when you're alive, but unable to harm anyone even when you're a Servant, it just stupid" The white-coated Servant sighed.

"Well, that's the duty of us two, one is like a sword, the other is like a shield. Together, we repel those who wanted to destroy the last of us." The US Servant said.

"Well, not like that is needed, this place has been protected by many bounded fields to prevent signal leaking or being traced. The only way to make it here is to have a directed help or a map that has marked this place, which is near impossible in the first place, not that letting our guard down is a good idea either." The white coat Servant speaks

They have seen the pillar of light came crashing down too, in fear that if this place were to be founded. The entire place will be just a large crater remains. Both shuddering the thoughts of that to happen.

"But still, you come to this place by yourself, weren't you? I don't remember having seen you in Poland." The US asked.

"Well, I was a stray Servant, I came across the evacuees by chance and I decided to stay with you guys." The white-coat answered.

"I don't know how you managed to come across us by chance but okay since you helped us quite a lot."

The night is still windy, looking at the sea beyond the horizon, hearing the waves crashing with the shore. They both staring towards the unknown. The US Servant remembers the day Warsaw truly fall, it was a memory that forever haunt him, yet it is a lesson that has to be learned if he wants to keep everyone he cares alive. He remembered he used to hear of the fact that they were supposed to be helped by the Soviets. The next moment, he realized there is absolutely no news regard of Soviets at all.

"Hold on... why Poland haven't received any help from the Soviets?" The US got confused.

"If you ask me, they intentionally tried to make Poland fallen so that they can take the land and enslaves its people by themselves, they only send a first few and then just ignore the very people who asked for their help in the first place." The white-coat answered.

"What happened to Soviet?" The US wanted to know the entirety of the story.

"Soviet? Those communist bastards you ask? If that's what you asking about then they were already destroyed to the point not even ashes should remain." The White-coat said with a fury that can be traced in his tone.

"Hold on, why?" The US felt he got more questions than answers at this point.

"If the rumors were right, those SS bastards might have developed WMDs with ridiculously fast speed that they send a literal barrage of nuclear missiles that it envelops the Soviet's sky itself. Right now, not even hundreds of years later would Soviet ever manage to become a liveable area." He said with anger with his tone so much he would have been mistaken as a Berserker no less.

The US Servant went silent, just what did communism do to his fellow that he became such a raging storm that personified as human. Decided to not divulge any further, the US Servant stares at the horizon, he let out a silent prayer.

"O' Lord, what should I do to guide the other from the unwitting hell that broke out in this place," The US said with a small tone..

His prayer went unheard, he knew it already. Even then, his faith is absolute for it is even the reason why he's here.

The next moment, they became silent, not looking at each other, they don't know if they can keep up if the Nazis managed to found these places, there is no way to call for help since there are no communication devices. There is nothing they can do but hope that the people will able to reach for a better tomorrow.

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_**The Witness from the Other Side**_

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**Meanwhile in Shadow Border**

**It has been a day since Gudao's deployment, the remaining staffs are trying their hardest to contribute in whatever they can, some Servants who can help lend their hands in order to lessen the burden the staffs has to carry, other than the rayshifting chamber, there is the other room where Servants gather to watch what happens in the Singularity, many call this as a cinema except they too also know that it isn't. Since the majority of the Servants can't go into the current Singularity right now, they gather up in this room to watch what is happening in it.**

"Damn, it's been a while ever since I sit in this room." Iskandar let out a laugh.

"If your a while means a day ago then yeah." Waver sighed

Many Servants are already taking their seats to watch the Singularity in entirety. Right now, it is far better than going through the Lostbelt even if it appears now. If anything remains unchanged, that is the bond between Servants, some were already having their as they were married, some making it as family-like. But the most important thing is the very bond itself pushes everyone through many crises that they already lose their count.

"Mommy, why can't we follow them? It is to my duty to protect the foundation of humanity's future, yet we are stuck here watching them do the job by themselves" Jack the Ripper asks her adoptive mom.

"Don't worry Jackie, you know that the Emiya family once working together, they'll pull it off even till their bitter end," Atalanta assure her adoptive daughter.

"Sis, you know that Mister Gil has already said no Servant but Emiya family to rayshift to said Singularity" Alice also warn her twin adoptive sister too about going to this Singularity."

"You know, I would have loved to go in that Singularity, but knowing the depths of the danger of said Singularity and Gil's warning, I too have decided to stay, my little girls" Achilles said with a fatherly voice.

There are still Servants coming through, many wanted to do something yet felt powerless when they were told otherwise by Gilgamesh, they hate it when he's right. Gilgamesh was mostly known as the Grand Douchbag of Chaldea back in his early days. After Babylonia Singularity and after received his older self memorial essence, Gil became the most supportive Servant in Chaldea as he has accepted Gudao as his master, truly.

He is willing to use his True Noble Phantasm as its strongest if Gudao told to do so. If Gil told you to not do it then you should follow his words no matter what since if he has good reasons to say so then you should listen to it too.

Li Shuwen enters through the door as he let out a sigh as he takes a seat. Kojiro notices and decided to ask him why he's doing so.

"Gil said I could enter the Singularity if I wanted to, he said that if a Servant wants to enter the singularity, in order to avoid their own deaths, they need to be modern enough. I was modern enough for this Singularity but I decided to not do it." Li Shuwen let out a sigh.

"Why? Knowing you would always try to pick a fight, you would have entered the Singularity without a second doubt" Kojiro seems wanted to know why considering Li's personality.

"I can only go so far as to use martial arts against conventional warfare. Gil saw that even guns there can harm Servants and decided to warn against me doing so. He even said "Listen here you mongrel, I'm not saying this as a king or anything. I'm saying this as your ally to prevent you from doing something that you may regret deeply for doing so if you want to do it then your choices. I'm not taking responsibility for your stupid death if you have done so."

"It is basically a warning that I was just a normal person using martial arts against a tank at the close quarters in that Singularity. Plus, chi techniques don't work on things that not even alive in the first place." Li Shuwen complains.

"I see what you getting at, even when you love a fight that life and death hang in balance, you don't make a futile fight where only you suffer." Koijro made his remark.

"I too was qualified to go in said Singularity but Gil hellbent on not letting me do so. He said that if I have done so, my fate lies in the end at the path I take will be so horrible that even existence erasure is a better fate than it. I don't know what he means but he said he'll Ea me to cut the hassles of doing so if I still continue" Shiki adds her words.

"You too?" Kojiro surprised at what transpired.

They keep talking while more Servants still keep walking in just to see what's happening in said Singularity. One of the entering Servant is members of the Emiya family.

"Goddamn it! I wanted to take part in it with Mama and Papa and they made me stay out of this!? I'm part of the Emiya family and I should be allowed to go with them, the Emiya family always works together no matter the conditions, no matter what!" Sitonai is still mad about having to stay out of this Singularity.

"I know how you're feeling but please get a grip of yourself!" The tanned skin little girl of the Emiya family said out loud while sitting on the shoulder of the legendary Heracles who has been with them and accepted them as their guardian.

"Please! No more yelling, you know that they have a good reason to do so, right? Even Gil said so!" the white-skin little girl who resembles the caster is trying to calm her down while sitting on the other side of Heracles's shoulders.

Sitonai getting irritated just when the word "Gil" gets thrown around. She still remembers having her heart ripped out by him back in the HGW. Not that this Gil would remember he did that though.

After a while, Sitonai just let out a defeating sigh, knowing there is nothing to gain by screaming around. She decided to take her seat to see what her brother and parents are doing.

"Even then, I would at least want to ask them what is happening there right now... If I could enter the communication quarter, I would ask Da Vinci if she could let me use the comm." Sitonai doesn't want to give it all up yet

"Well, knowing her. She would probably give it to you." The tanned girl speaks to Sitonai.

"All we can do now is wait. Berserker, let me down." the white-haired caster tells her guardian.

Heracles lets out a small growl, it's mean that he said "Understood..." as he putting the two girls down.

"Thank you! See you later, Berserker!" The caster cheerfully thanks her guardian.

The berserker gives a thump up for them and proceeds to exit the room.

It is lively even when the world right now is hanging in balance.

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_**A New Day**_

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_**Somewhere in North Poland's forest [1950]**_

**For the first time, Pierce's squad managed to sleep without anxiety or fear of being ambushed. It has been long ever since a proper sleep was possible and it was thanks to Gudao's Servants. A new day has just begun for both Pierce and Gudao.**

"Damn, now I realized that we haven't seen the sky without being cloudy for like what? 6 years?" Pierce taking a look into the sky.

"I actually didn't notice that." Gudao finally bothered to notices what's happening in the surrounding.

The sky is full of gray and dark clouds, but the thing never rains. It is always like that for who knows how long, it was as if God has abandoned this place and leave it to fate. The first thing that hit them is the smell of a delicious breakfast.

"So you finally wake up, Master." Emiya's word reaches his Master's ears.

"Da Vinci rayshifts us a sizeable amount of supplies, isn't that great?" The caster said her words.

Everyone having their breakfast and chatting with each other. The assassin scouts the surrounding area to see if there is anything suspicious or close by. Gudao and Pierce devising plans to see what should they do next. A while later, the assassin comes back.

"I checked the surrounding and I saw a military pickup truck driving in this direction and I asked Da Vinci to check whether it is something suspicious or not. Turns out it was a Servant or something that has Servant Spirit Origin. That thing will soon come close to this place's vicinity in about 15 minutes." The assassin makes his report.

That is something strange, A Servant would easily outrun an F1 if they pushed. Unless that Servant deliberately hiding then they are doing a really bad job doing it since that person literally giving away the fact that he's a Servant. Emiya makes his plan and said they should check that truck and ambush it in order to gain more information. Everyone decided to follow his plan since doing nothing wouldn't turn up anything.

"All remaining personnel head to the designated area!" Pierce command his squad to do what he said.

Everyone soon got into their locations, waiting for the truck to come close.

As the truck getting close, the military-attired man getting out of his truck to check where he currently is, although there is nothing but forest surrounding the area, what he's doing exactly is to check whether he's going the right way or not. The assassin grabs his chance and quickly armlocks the man and pushes him against the vehicle, the tanned archer projects his bow and aim it at the militant, the old archer aim his flintlock at the same person while the caster creates multiples sword out of her hair and doing the same as the rest. Assassin quickly getting on the interrogation.

"Who are you?! What are you trying to do here?!" The assassin interrogates him forcefully in his attempt to get whatever information.

"I DON'T KNOW! I'M JUST TRYING TO GET TO THE EVACUATION POINT. PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" The militant cried in fear.

"Evacuation point? Where exactly is it?!" The assassin tried to press on.

"It is marked on the map, I find it in an abandoned bunker in Warsaw. Just spare me!" The man cried for mercy.

"Something's wrong, a Servant that doesn't even retaliate. Dad! Stop!" Emiya told his father to stop.

The assassin lets the man away as the man falls into the ground while he let out his heavy breath, everyone lays down their weapon seeing that he doesn't want to or to be exact that he isn't even capable of harming anyone.

"Then how do you explain your Spirit Origin signal?! It is one belonging to a Servant!" Kerry tried to find out if the man in front of him is trying to hide something.

"Uh, what is a Servant?" The man asks with a confused expression.

That moment, literally everyone facepalmed at the predicament that a Servant didn't even know that they were a Servant in the first place, you can even felt the word "What!?" in the air even if no one is saying it.

A bit later, after the situation has calmed down. After the interrogation has ended, everyone talks to each other about their next move.

"So, there is an evacuation point or to be exact, it's a safe zone for evacuees." Shirou summarizes what the militant is saying.

"Well, that's the truth and I have no reason to lie about this." the militant answered back.

"Okay, that clarified everything we know. So we shall move towards that place. All personnel, get on the truck!" Pierce commands his squad and his Servant.

"We'll follow you on foot, we're Servants anyway so we'll catch up soon." The caster gives her word.

"Okay, let's go, Okaa-san, Jii-san." Shirou replied.

The Servant soldier felt that he got into a strange situation but at least it didn't turn for the worse. As he begins to turn his key, he notices the hawk that he has seen last night. Just what is that thing doing here? He frozen up a bit but quickly turn the gas and move out as soon as he can in order to escape it. That white hawk makes him felt uneasy, the other didn't notice but he fears that things would turn for the worse if it weren't by his new companions, it will be the one that behinds that hawk. He quickly went out of the sight of the hawk. The next moment, the hawk flew away towards the west.

A while later in a far distance away from where the militant originally was, the hawk has come down on the hand of a woman. She has blond curly hair, wearing a brown soldier attire, and wielding a rifle in her hand. She seems to understand what the hawk is saying.

"Very good, it seems like we have some new friends that we eventually have our path cross," The woman said

_**Word of God:**__** If you having a hard time imagining what she looks like, just imagine she looks like Alfin from Trails of Cold Steel.**_

She's looking at a defense line in front of her, all of them bearing a striking similarity to Siegfried Line combined with reinforcement magecraft and many tank stoppers and cannons and machine guns to prevent any possible invaders. All were fueled with enough mana that it would stop even Servant. Such that it is thought to be an impenetrable defense that can stop even the largest army in its track.

Unfortunately, even with such powerful defense. Its fall is already sealed from the moment she stepped in.

**_"You're next..."_**

* * *

Well, chapter 3 has finally come. It has been such a ridiculously busy that I barely have enough time to write this. I'll be having business to deal with soon so there will be no chapter to release any time soon. So if you're here then please be patient. Anyway, thank you for actually spending time reading this charade.

Preview:

_"I call this the Widowmaker"_


	4. The First Steps

**Warning: ****Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

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_**Chapter 4: The First Steps  
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**Somewhere on the road to the safe zone**

**The group is now moving towards where it would be called the evacuating area. The soldiers were resting on the truck while waiting to reach their destination, the Servants voluntarily to get there on foot to save the spaces for the soldiers.**

"Papa! What's going on the other side there?!" Sitonai on the other side of the communicating route saying out loud.

"Nothing to worry about my little sunshine, nothing to worry about..." The assassin gives his daughter his assurance.

"Humph, you kept saying that but most of the time, it is something that threatening your livelihood!" The girl screams back.

"Sitonai, that is our duty in the first place. If you were here, you would have done something far more dangerous." The tanned archer answered back.

"Jezz..." Sitonai decided to cancel the communication, she has a lot more to say but it is best to leave it to the other time.

"So... What do our little daughter saying here?" The caster wants to know what is up in the conversation.

"Just venting up her bottled up emotion, nothing much to see there." The assassin replied.

The Emiya family were considered as a weird bunch back in Chaldea. But considering the strange tales and shenanigan of other Servants which makes them quite tame compared to the other. It is because of their bonds as a family that they can work together to such a terrifying degree as they discovered their hidden potential when working together. There is a saying in Chaldea that once the Emiya family works together, anyone dares stands up against them would be destroyed with no exception.

"How long the path is it?" A soldier on the truck asked.

"We'll be there soon enough, just a few minutes" The military Servant replied.

Soon the forest scenery begins to clear up as they heading towards the shore or at least that's what they thought. What they see is small, humble villages consist of many small wooden shacks. It is a sad-looking image that makes one felt empty inside. The soldiers begin to climb down from the truck and the military Servant getting out of his vehicles. As soon as they hit the dirt did the 2 protectors of the village come to see who they are.

The two Servants taking a good look, the white-coat aims his weapon in case he sees them doing something stupid. The US Servant put the white-coat weapon down and inquire about who they are.

"It seems like we are having guests coming to this place." The US speaks.

"The question is, how did you all manage to find this place? Did you all have some ulterior motives to come here?" The white-coat glares at them.

"I don't know what do you guys mean but I can assure you that I came here in peace." The militant Servant answered.

"Yeah, we can back up the fact that he has no ill wills at all." Pierce gives his word.

Soon, the Emiya family and their Master caught up. Their appearance causes the ire of the white-coat, the militant also has quickly proved that they are also his allies and not someone who is here to destroy whatever left of Poland. It takes a while but at least nothing goes wrong.

"Okay, I haven't introduced to you yet, I'm a protector of this last shelter. The class is 'Ruler'."

"Hold on, you don't appear to look like a Ruler at all." The tanned archer asked.

"Well, that's just how I look like, if a Servant can be guessed by appearance then there would be no such things as mystery anymore." The US answered.

"Guess that makes sense..." The militant Servant sighed.

"By the way, I heard that this is an evacuation point but why do you guys are still here? Aren't you all supposed to be evacuated to somewhere safe?" The assassin questions.

"If we could then we weren't even here by now. We have no means of communication to the outside of this continent. We aren't inventors at all so there are no possible ways to evacuation." The US answered.

"You said you have no communications, right?" The militant got a brainstorm when the US said it.

The militant quickly grabs the box that contained all the communications devices he found and the diary that gives him the location to this place. He opened it for everyone to know.

"Wait, you have all of these? Why didn't you tell us about it in the first place?" Pierce surprised at this turn of events.

"I didn't think that all of you would need addition communications considering you guys were all military soldiers!" The militant break out a laugh.

"Don't give me that!" Pierce said loudly at the militant while forgetting that he's yelling at a Servant.

"Would you all cut the crap? I'll try to see if I could make these things work..." The old Archer shrugged.

The arguments went on, the militant forgot that he's a Servant which means he could easily snap a human being like a twig. From an outside perspective, they look like a bunch of idiots arguing stupid shits. The remaining squad gives a low sigh then moving on to see the village themselves.

"Master, what should we do about this?" The tanned Archer asking his Master about the shitshow in front of him.

"Just let them do whatever they want, they'll be tired before long. Though the person that will be tired is more likely to be Pierce" Gudao gives his voice.

Soon everyone but those two are inside the village. Both of them realized what's going on and quickly rushing in and want to mentally punch themselves for being so irrational in the time like this. The Chaldeans don't know what's happening in this Singularity right now but this will be a good starting point for them.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**A Way Out  
**_

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* * *

**Somewhere nearby the shore in the refuge area**

After quite a while, the old Archer gives out a relieving breath after he successfully making a makeshift radio tower. If a normal person made this, there would be no chance in hell that it can send its signal further than even 10 meters and that is stretching it, but this is a Servant's work, despite being an Archer, the old man is quite good at building and making stuff that belongs to near-modern age, he made damn sure that the signal will reach America no matter what.

To be fair though, calling the tower he made makeshift is an insult for him as despite being made mostly of wood, it is far more effective than the one that even modern military was using. After checking every nut and bolt, he calls his Master and tells him to use it to get in contact with any military personnel America if they were still there at all.

Pierce went nervous, he doesn't want to know the fate of his sister or America itself. It is possible that all of them were annihilated under the Nazi's feet. But, even then he won't ever live with himself if he continues to live in ignorance. Gather all his valor, he turns the radio on, dialing the frequency that might still work. Back during his time in services, the corp that he was in forced all of the personnel to know all of the American bases' radio frequencies. It was hell back then but he thanks himself that he still remember all of them in his mind.

"Damn, only statics..." Pierce getting tired of hearing the same noises.

"Over 40 possibles frequency and still no response. To think it comes to this level of hopelessness." The old Archer sighed.

Tired from all of this, losing the hope that there's anything worth to return there. Pierce dials the last possible frequency in his mind, he kept putting the telecom near his ear thinking it would just be static.

That's what he thought.

The next moment, he fell off his chair when a familiar voice blares through the intercom. Getting his composure back, he quickly answers the radio as if he fears that he'll lose it if he doesn't quickly answer. There is only one thing that can make him surprise like that and that is his sister, who is alive and well despite the predicament that America is being invaded.

"Penny! You're..." Overjoyed from knowing that his blood and flesh are still alive, he has so many things to talk about, but before he said anything, his sister already took her chances to speak first.

"Pierce! You're alive! I thought I have lost you forever when I heard that the entirety of US army there got eradicated almost effortlessly, but thank the stars that you still alive, what's going on there, Pierce?" The sister took the chances first.

"Look, we both have so many things to talk about but I'll cut straight into the business. First, how in the hell did the army manage to hold back against such force like that? Our armaments are like snow against heater when it comes to those Nazi bastards."

"Well, you know a proverb that said "Diamond cuts Diamond" right? That's how we managed to push back against the invasion even if we right now didn't have much progress in the fight. We learned of something called magecraft and we applied to our weapons and armors to fight against them. We also have Servants too!"

Now that is a surprise, they having Servants fight for them. But who? If memory serves him right, aren't most of American old legends artifacts were underneath the bottom of the sea right now? Then just who are those? Pierce decided that he should inquire about it too.

"Servants? You mean those WMDs in the form of humans?" Pierce asked.

"You know about it? Then I'll skip what Servant is and move on to how we managed to summon them. You know the old American folk tales, right? The one we used to be told by our grandparents when we were young?" Penny said.

"Yeah, the one I remembered the most about a cowboy who literally rides a storm in order to bring water to his homeland which was suffering from severe drought," Pierce answered

"That is Pecos Bill, Pierce. He's one of our fighters in the resistance against those Nazi, those Nazi didn't expect of getting hit by a Servant who can ride storm itself. You can only go so far fighting against nature itself." Penny chuckles at the thought.

Pierce chuckle at it too. There are many old American folklore figures that can actually have some abilities to curb stomp some older Servants. Not that he'll bet they can stomp the divine like of Servants. After pondering for a while he decided he'll need to get onto the matter.

"By the way, how exactly did the soldier there managed to harm those Wehrmachts at all. It seems that not only the Servants are in combat but also the military personnel" Pierce inquires about how they managed to do it.

"We reverse engineering their weapon, we didn't exactly find out how they managed to enchant a weapon to such a degree but at least we know how much mana we need to enchant to said level. We applied the same thing to the armor and we managed to reduce the personnel damaged to concussion or knockback. At least that is far better than blown apart by said bullets." Penny answered.

Pierce shudder the experience back when his Corp is still there. At least he found a way to prevent his squad from getting killed immediately. When he is wandering with the thought in his mind, his Servant asked.

"Well, you seem to be able to contact someone in America, good for you. I got other business to take care of now, so have a good time, Master." Pierce's Servant gives his word before he walks toward the village.

"Anyway, I have a request. Can you send a rescuing team in order to get the refugees out of here? This place would eventually get erased out of the map if the Nazis managed to find them. I worry about them, they already have too much things in their plates and I don't want to feel guilty about leaving them to their fate." Pierce gives his request.

"Okay, I'll send a rescuing team there, can you give me the coordinate so we could evacuate them out of there?" Penny asked.

"Okay, wait a minute," Pierce answered.

Pierce quickly grabs the book in the box which contains the map that leads them here. Thankfully that the thing has exact coordinates written on the mark which cut him the hassle of doing so.

"The coordinates are somewhere close to 54.36 and 18.95. Can you decipher it, sis?" Pierce asked.

"Got it. I calculated that it will take a week for the rescuing squad to come said location, it is just a matter of time to reach the place." Penny gives her word.

"Can't a Servant go faster than that? I mean they should be beyond such a meager speed like this" Pierce asking why.

"You should also be taking account of enemy ships and patrol in order to reduce the chances of being spotted. What's the point of a rescuing if you going to bring the entire enemy behind you. This is the best bet you can choose right now." Penny answered.

He curses himself in this situation, the enemy could find them in any day right now, he stuck in an impasse with himself whether to choose such a decision. He fell silent, asking himself if this was the right choice. After a moment, a decision was made.

"Fine, until then. I'll protect all those citizens, you better get here faster if you can." Pierce said a voice full of determination.

"That's the brother I know!" Penny's happiness can be felt through there.

"Thank you..." Pierce finally able to smile.

After those 6 years unknown to the world. He wanted to talk about everything he could with his sister. His heart feels like it was able to lighten the burden and just for once. Pierce was finally able to feel happiness.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Family Meeting**_

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* * *

**Somewhere in Shadow Border.**

The Shadow Border is still lively even with the world's impending doom hanging above it. Many are having their usual life like any normal people, some are on supply runs, some are Casters work on thaumaturgy for any breakthrough in their research. Of course, they won't go for absurd and overboard levels of research like most Clock Tower's mages. But overall, it is a very happy place despite Shadow Border wasn't exactly made for said purpose.

"From what I heard that the Inventor Casters managed to find a way to increase everyone's combat power by removing class containers altogether. It sounds absurd but is actually possible, just need a lot of mystic materials and energy I heard. Too bad that we only have one class." the tanned girl sighed.

"Well, at least Berserker could receive that upgrade. IF HE HAS RECEIVED ANY MEMORIAL ESSENCE OF OTHER CLASSES!" Sitonai went mad when she learned that class container removal isn't enough.

"At least that is something good enough to know, the person that chooses to be the first subject of doing so is ironically Gilgamesh. He now wears the same clothes that his caster self has, except his shirt has Ea's pattern over it while keeping the leggings the same as archer self. He let his hair down too." white-skinned girl wears a disappointed look in her faces when she thought she would get to see her guardian become stronger.

While they were talking, an announcement was heard throughout the Shadow Border itself.

"Attention! Kuro Emiya, please come to the rayshifting chamber for deployment." Da Vinci's voice echoes through the hallway.

"Did something happened on the other side? If Mama and Papa are calling for help then the situation must be in more peril than we initially thought." The white-haired little girl said.

"I'll have to check up on them, nothing good comes out if they need more help," Kuro said as she quickly heading to the rayshifting chamber in order to deploy to the singularity.

Quickly changing her clothes into her combat attire which was basically a female version of her brother's attire except for much more skimpy compared to his. Her ability is the same as him, due to her larger od and better circuit quality compare to him, she can trace Divine Construct and stay in combat longer than her own brother. Unfortunately, she doesn't completely embrace the dream of a Hero of Justice to the level of Shirou thus making her unable to deploy UBW to the real world like her brother.

Not that she'll need to be the same as her brother. Her aid will be immense for the family in this Singularity.

**********[Thirty minutes ago before Kuro's deployment]************

"Okaa-san, Jii-san, Master... We'll need to devise a plan to deal with this Singularity itself, so what shall we do?" Shirou raises his opinion first.

"Considering the mana level and mystery here especially the time in this place, we might actually dealing with something that's out of our own comprehension." The mother gives her word.

"That's true, Iri. There are also many things that are still shrouded in mystery, such as that militant guy who is a Servant yet completely forgot about the fact that he's a Servant!" The father gives his opinion.

"If it weren't my first-hand experience with Moriarty, I would have believed what he said the moment get-go. But unfortunately, that Servant is completely harmless as he doesn't know how to fight at all, unlike Moriarty, even being militant and all." The son gives his words.

"There are still many things we don't know yet and we shouldn't make any hard conclusion right now, such mistakes could be proven fatal" Gudao gives his opinion.

Suddenly the intercom between them and Shadow Border blares up with the voices of Shadow Border's greatest advisor. Sherlock Holmes as the man congratulates the master for being rational in the time like this

"Well, nice to see you there, Sherlock. But why are you using the command not Da Vinci?" The master asks.

"You know that I and Moriarty always play "Guess that Servant" by using a Servant's characteristics in order to reveal his/her True Name before they use their true Noble Phantasm. Whoever guesses it first win." Sherlock calmly answers his Master's question.

"There's nothing much to do here in Shadow Border for us other than going for supply run or trying to outsmart each other so we decided to camp here in communicating quarter while observing you." Moriarty butt in the communication

"Jeez, you guys are just pure troublemakers..." Da Vinci snuck up behind them unnoticed.

Surprised by Da Vinci, Sherlock and Moriarty quickly dash out of the quarter, leaving behind a sighing Da Vinci.

"Anyway, do you guys need anything? Supply or something?" Da Vinci asked.

"I think that we'll need more reinforcement for this mission, more help would be great." The tanned Archer replied.

"Okay, I'll call the Emiya sisters over for deploy-" Da Vinci was saying before she got cut off.

"No, only Kuro." Shirou makes his request.

"Huh? Why?" Da Vinci confused.

"Think about this, this is the Nazi we're talking about. Considering the possibilities and timeframe. If the enemy can cause this extremely high mana level and mystery then they can also create things that can be stronger than a Servant itself. Remember what happened in Camelot when we were forced to fight those vanquishers and sentinels, don't get me even start on the justiciars. My other sister will be our trump card to catch the enemy off guard, plus we'll need to keep a low profile to deceive the enemy, bringing her now will paint a large target on our backs" The son argued.

"I see, I'll call Kuro over to you." Da Vinci heard his word.

"Thank you." Shirou thanks her.

Afterward, the Master draws the summoning circle in order to deploy the little Archer. The light from the circle shines brightly and soon a figure appeared above it. The tanned little Archer wielding dual blades in her hands, her attire is the female version of the older Archer's except a lot more skimpy. She has a pink-tinted white hair just like how the rest of her family is also white-haired. There's no doubt she is Shirou's sister, the two were two sides of the same coin. Wielding one same fighting style, the two can masterfully combine their attacks to create techniques that can only be done by them.

"Guess you truly need my help, huh?" Kuro snickered.

"Whatever, sis. Welcome to the mission." The tanned archer welcomes her.

The parents have a little smile on their faces, seeing how wholesome it is until they notice the old man Archer was walking by and noticed them before long. He stares at them, wearing a "WTF" expression on his face as he sees the girl wearing the same clothes as her brother. Equations flew by his mind, trying to answer whether Servants can get impregnated or not. His head hurts thinking about it despite being a Servant, he gives up and heading to where he supposed to go. Where is this supposed you may ask? It's where someone needs help, this is the thing that has been hardwired in his nature.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Heart of Gold**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Seeing the others' suffering is also seeing his suffering, seeing the smile of the people he helped also put a smile on his face. A good deed deserves another turn, helping people with everything he has. If Emiya was seeing him right now, he would think he was seeing a mirror image of his younger self.**

"There we go, with this and you shall never need to bend your back to plow the field." The old Archer smiles.

The refugees can't believe that he built a tractor out of just ores found from mining the ridge, they were dumbfounded at the power of a Heroic Spirit itself. Actually, why is there a ridge here in the first place? Perhaps nobody will know why.

He only manages to notice that the village was built on the ridge when he's going near the sea, there's a large cargo net attached from the ridge itself to the bottom shore. It seems like it is impossible to reach there by any other means other than a boat or the cargo net that was set here. After climbing down to the shore he tried to see if he could extract the ore out of this ridge and it seems to paid off the effort he spent doing so.

After climbing up the ridge again while holding a large sack of ores in his other hand, he notices that the militant Servant is staring off toward the horizon.

"Are you OK?" The old man asks.

"I... I'm fine. Nothing to worry about." The militant answers back.

"If you saying that while having a sad look on your face, you'll just only proving the other's point." The old man replied.

"You are more perceptive than I thought, it was foolish of me to think I could even hide it." The militant answered.

"It is nothing to be ashamed of. So tell me. what's on your mind, perhaps I could help you with it." The old man smiled at him.

"Okay, I am a Servant and they said a Servant is those who have done great deeds in their life and they were immortalized into history itself, but I am a soldier of this era, there is no great deed I could possibly have done. I don't remember who I am, and just how a nameless like me become a Servant in the first place." The man let out all his feeling in one fell swoop.

"I understand what you're trying to say here and I understand what you must have felt considering the situation. But right now, we need all the power we can have, a Servant would always be stronger than any human and you can help us fight, so do you know how to fight?" The old man answered.

"I don't know, I do know how to use firearms, I think?" The man hesitantly answers.

"So you must have a firearm of sorts that you can use for combat." The old man replied.

"How? I don't even have any weapon in my possession." The man answered back.

"You know that a Servant can easily get their weapons if they wanted it, right?" The old Archer started to wonder that such a level of amnesia is even possible.

"Okay, I'll try to see if I can even get it." The militant hesitantly answered

The man focuses all of his thoughts into the weapon he wanted, he searching any of the memory that has him use a weapon of sort. But nothing turned up except the one back at where he awakens, and it does not belong to him.

"Hmm, it seems like your situation is far worse than expected." The old man assesses the situation he's in.

"Sorry that I turned out to be useless." The militant apologizes.

"No need to, I just tried to help with all I can. Seems like time is the only thing that could fix this up." The old man sighed, for the first time he's actually found no solution for the problem. He just never let anything goes unresolved, it just that it went against his beliefs.

Now that he's done all he could for the militant, he decided to move out to where he supposed to be next. This is a request that his Master has made as it is crucial for him and the remainder of his squad. He sets out to the workshop he has made in order to fulfill his Master's request.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Armaments Reimagined**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Somewhere near the cliff**

**There he is, stands inside his workshop while forging the ores he found into ingot and bar. It is just a familiar sight of a blacksmith, but what he forging isn't anything that blacksmith of the old would. He forges things that would be the most helpful for everyone.**

"There you are, this is a workshop you just made, right?" Pierce asked his Servant.

"That's right, Master. To be fair, this is a gunsmith's workshop. Where I can easily improve and upgrade your weapons" The old Archer laughed heartily.

If Emiya were to see this, he would actually try to join in and help but right now, the man is on kitchen duty.

"Our armaments don't even make a single dent on the enemy, which defeats the purpose of firearms in the first place. Those things can only be used to hunt animals at best right now so can you upgrade it?" Pierce asks his Servant.

"Gladly, I'll see what I can do." The old Archer replied.

Pierce decided to start out by using his Colt M1911 pistol first. It is basically useless at this point. His Servant inspects the gun further to see how he can upgrade the thing. After drawing his mental blueprints, the old man jumps on to the process of upgrading. He started to melt the ingots and cast those things into parts, he tried to make any possible improvements like expanding the magazine sizes or increase its caliber.

After a while, the gun is ready to be used as the old man presents them in front of the soldiers.

"I call them **Death and Taxes**" The old man giving a loud welcome.

The two pistols are basically the same as the Colt with the only difference is its design. The gun is made entirely out of dark steel with brass aesthetics, combined with what looks like circuit engraved throughout the gun itself. It looks strange but if this is what they need to fight against the Nazi then so be it.

Pierce grabbed the twin pistols and firing it towards the sea to see the difference it actually made. To be fair, he unknowingly instinctively shivered the moment he grabbed it because of the power that the pistol radiated. The next moment before he realized the power the gun held, the bullet impacts with the water surface. The water is blown with the power almost equal to a tank shell itself. Pierce and his soldiers are surprised at the sheer power the pistols have.

"Am I firing a pistol or a Panzershreck?" Pierce dumbfound at what has just happened.

"That's why you don't judge things at their first sight, Master." The old man laughed heartily.

Everyone in Pierce's squad quickly wanted to have that unfathomable power within their own weapons, things would get out of control had the Archer didn't clear up the fundamental of his upgrading.

"Don't expect the same level of power on any of your non-explosive armaments, the only reason his pistol became that powerful is because of its small size thus allowed high mana concentration." The old Archer clarified.

The entire squad is disappointed at what the Archer said but again, they know that such a powerful attack is suicidal at close range because it would also blast its user to smithereens.

"Don't get too sad though because all of your armaments after the upgrade will be firing pure mana, combined with being a Servant's work. No level of defensive magecraft would withstand your weapons attack. No need to worry about the ammo, you could just also use normal bullets to reload it and it would work the same regardless" The old man tried to cheer everyone up.

"Fine, but it better be worth our while." A soldier demanded.

After that, the old man inspects everyone's armaments such as Pierce's BAR, M1 Garand, Thompson SMG, Springfield,... He inspects all of those and still easily draws mental blueprints for all of them, they would also add the possible attachments that they were used to have. After hearing what they have to say, he also decided to make those attachments despite have not ever laid eye on them at all. Not that it could even stop him at all though. After a while, he first gives back the heavily modified BAR rifle with the same designs back to Pierce.

"I call this, **Widow Maker**" The old man gives back the weapon for Pierce.

The BAR rifle in Pierce's hands right now having a drum magazine despite there's no drum mag were made for this thing, a sniper optic scope and reflex sight installed by the side of the sniper scope. It also has a grip for easier handling and combines with optional M1 Garand's stripper clip loading system if the situation can't allow reloading by removing the magazine. And the most obvious is the same dark steel and brass camo like the Colt that the old Archer modified.

_**Word of God:**__** If you have a hard time imagining both reflex sight and sniper optic being used simultaneously then just imagine reflex sight being used like canted sight in PUBG.**_

Pierce can felt the power coursing through the gun itself. His body instinctively shivers when he's holding the weapon in his hand. He'll have to get used to this soon enough if he wanted to survive in this hell.

"Up next, the M1 Garand you guys called, I improved it and shall call it, **Grandeur Express**." The old Archer makes a grand opening for the weapon he about to present.

The rifle has the same dark steel and brass camo as the previous two. The rifle has a detachable extended magazine, using both reflex sight and sniper optic like the BAR, and for some reason, the old Archer managed to somehow combine both bayonet and grenade launcher attachment together. While the soldiers taking a good look at the rifle, the old Archer has already presented a belt of grenades for the grenade launcher.

"Don't worry, these things won't detonate unless you firing it with the grenade launcher from the gun. Plus, the thing is now full-auto, you can switch back if you felt like it." The old Archer reassure the soldier.

"I hope you're right about this" The soldier hesitantly grabs the weapon in his hand as the power radiating and coursing through the gun itself.

"Next, you guys called this the Thompson, right? Too bad, it is now the **Valentine's Firing Squad**!" The old man laughed.

"Why do you name it Valentine specifically?" A soldier asked.

"I don't know, just felt like it." The old man gives his half-assed answer.

Once again with the same camo as the previous. The gun has a 100-drum magazine, the Archer custom made the barrel and receiver so that the gun won't jam when continuously fired. The gun also has a compensator attached to reduce recoils, combined with a grip to reduce it further. At this point, one could just compare it to the one that big shot mafia was using, except the mafia doesn't have reflex sight for their gun.

"I felt like I could die just from holding this gun, let alone firing it." The soldier who received it said.

"Then get used to it" The Archer just giving his most simple solution.

After giving out the heavily modified Thompson, he brings out what appeared to be a heavily modified Springfield.

"This one I call, **Persephone's Punishment**" The old Archer calls its name in a poetic way.

Same design as the previous. At this point, they decided that the rest would have the same camo no matter what. The rifle still has its same scope, the chances are that he has attached a bipod and a silencer, he redesigned the receiver so that it can use magazine, not that he would bother to make the gun firing faster due to the fact that the thing was bolt action in the first place. He also installed a cheek pad that also doubles as a magazine pouch to the stock of the rifle.

"Not that I expected you to actually made its chamber in the magazine, but thank you anyway." The soldier who said thanks to the old Archer.

"So about the Grease gun you show it to me, well I have a hard time thinking about how I can improve it. Seriously, this thing has almost nothing that worth improving, did the person who made this only using scrap or what? But anyway, I'll show to you, the **Black Gold**" The Archer gives it to the soldier

The old man gives it to the soldier who gives this weapon to the old man in the first place. The gun has the same dark steel and brass camo like the rest, the only difference was the iron sight was replace with the reflex one, a silencer was installed and the magazine was extended and also have two of them bound together with duct tape, basically jungle magazine.

"To be fair, I don't expect much more than one modification but it's more than how I expected so thanks." The soldier thanks the old man.

It is pretty much all of their armaments remained but the old man decided to manufacture more of those things so that everyone can stand their ground against the Nazi should they attack. But there is still one thing Pierce needs to do and that is their protection. No matter how strong your attack is if you got one-shotted then game over. He decided to ask his Servant about it.

"Can you create armor to protect ourselves against those Nazi's gunfire. It isn't pleasant for us to know that we will be one-shotted by those bastards." Pierce asked his Servant.

"Hmm, I'll see what I can do, just wait for a moment please." The Archer replied.

"By the way, for an Archer, you know really a lot about gunsmithing and building and creating tools. It isn't something I expected out from an Archer." Pierce gives his compliments to his Servant.

"Nothing too special you see, unlike that Archer who uses swords." The old man laughed.

He felt like there is a lot more to his Servant than how he initially thought, he realized that he didn't even hear of his True Name but he felt there is no need for that anymore, as long as he and his Servant work together, no hardship would be too great for them.

* * *

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_**Interlude: Reports of Inevitable**_

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* * *

**At a Nazi's headquarter in Berlin**

"Sir! We received news that a defense line of our got destroyed." A German soldier reports.

"What! Another got destroyed, it isn't even a day or two since the last one." The officer surprised at the reports.

"Is this the doing of that unknown Servant?" The German soldier speaks in fear.

"As much as I don't want to admit, it is very possible." The office said as if he resigned to his fate.

"So how long do you think we could hold?" The soldier asked.

"We have 5 defense lines and hundreds of thousands of soldiers and a few Servants in total, even if that mysterious being somehow able to create a plan to breakthrough, it would take a long time in order to made it here." The officer answered.

"Don't you think is it strange how we were about to be destroyed and suddenly, here we are. On a path to dominate the world in just about 6 years, 6 YEARS!" The soldier felt as if there is a conspiracy going on.

"Look, I just got promoted to be an officer recently so I have no clue on how to be informal. If I know anything, I would have told you already, but most of the information is classified only for the very high up and the Fuhrer himself." The officer replied.

"Can we actually do something about this situation?" The soldier nervously asked.

"Other than commands soldiers to send themselves to their death, my hands are tied in regard to this." The officer answered.

Both of them went silent, don't know what to say at all in the predicament that they noticed. They fear that the situation is actually much worse than how they could ever realize at all.

**Somewhere a long distance away from the third line**

"I see..." The blonde hair girl speaks to her white hawk.

It seems like the Nazi couldn't afford to let such a threat like her to go rampage against them any longer, they were sending many Wehrmacht squads to hunt her down. Unfortunately for them, they won't ever able to catch her as she already knows where they are thanks to her Animal Communication which lets her communicate with animals even if it's at a low rank. The night is cloudy like always but today, the full moon managed to shines through the cloud. She stares at the moon as if she's looking through the heaven for someone who she holds dear so much.

Suddenly, her hawk warns her that an enemy squad is going in the direction to where she is right now. She quickly jumps off the ruins she is in and moves silently through the night. She knew of her objectives and she is going to do it no matter what. But she knew that eventually, she can no longer be a loner lest she wanted to get herself killed. She knew that she needs a helping hand in order to push towards Berlin, the place where it all happened.

After she managed to reach a safe place out of the Wehrmacht squad's sight. She rests on top of what looks like a ruined two-story building while continuing to stare toward the sky. Looking at the heavens that illuminated by the moonlight as if to looks for the person she has held dear. The moon is a reminder of her beloved memory but also what has molded her into the person she is right now.

_"I could use some sugar right now..."_

* * *

_**Servant Profiles**_

**_-Pierce's Servant_**

**_Class: Archer_**

_True Name:__ [Not revealed until true Np is used]_

_Parameter:  
__Str: D __| Agi: C __| End: C __| Mana: B __| Luck: D __| NP: Unk _

_ Wise up!_

_Passive Skills:  
-Territory Creation B: Creation of a 'Workshop' that specializes in firearm weaponry becomes possible. __**[****Wise up!]**_

_-Item Construction C: Able to create enchanted firearms that could harm a Servant, its power becomes higher if they were made within his workshop. __**[****Wise up!]**_

_-Independent Action B+: This Servant can stay in this world without a Master for four to five days. That's if they conserve their mana._

_"Unknown"_

_Personal Skills:_

_-Dauntless Will B: Even in a situation where there's no escape, this Servant will found an escape path of said situations regardless of conditions._

_-Inherent Wisdom B: His knowledge of crafting many various things he invented in his life. Unfortunately, most of them are useless in combat. __**[****Wise up!]**_

_-"Unknown"_

**_Noble Phantasm_**

**_[Not revealed due to not using True NP]_**

**|_Pack a Punch| _**_**[****Wise up!]**_**_  
Armaments Reimagined_**

**_Rank A+| Classification: Conceptual Improvement|_**

**_The act of improving on existing weaponry by enchanting and heavy modifications until the weapon itself reaches its true potential, this NP suffers a rank down on anything that isn't firearm or considered as one in the first place._**

**_"""":...:""""_**

**_-The Militant_**

**_Class:_****_ ?_**

_True__ Name:?_

_Parameter:_

_Str: __Unk__| Agi: __Unk__| End: __Unk__| Mana: __Unk__| Luck: __Unk__| NP: Unk_

_Passive Skills:_

_"Unknown"_

_Personal Skills:_

_"Unknown"_

**_Noble Phantasm_**

**_"Unknown"_**

**_"""":...:""""_**

**_The Mysterious Girl_**

_**Class:?**_

_True Name**:?**_

_Parameter:_

_Str: __Unk__| Agi: B __| End: __Unk__| Mana: __Unk__| Luck: __Unk__| NP: Unk  
__Wise up!_

_Passive Skills:_

_"Unknown"_

_Personal Skills:_

_Animal Communication D: Born from her own love with animals and close affinity with them at a young age and even until now. She could understand what the animals are trying to say to her even if no one else could understand_

_"Unknown"_

**_Noble Phantasm_**

**_"Unknown"_**

* * *

**To be continued**

**Thank god I actually managed to finish this chapter. I'm going to have a lot of business in the near future so I can't upload anything for probably this month. If you actually like this then leave a review so that I can improve my writing. Until then, see you later.**

**Teaser:**

**"Son, I have bad news and even worse news"**


	5. The Calm Before the Storm

**Warning: ****Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

**_Chapter 5: The Calm Before the Storm_**

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Somewhere in the forest**

**It has been 5 days ever since they decided to stay in the village, or to be more exact is a refuge that can barely protect itself at all. The assassin has decided to scout the area around for anything suspicious at all. Many hours have passed and he has been doing this since his first day here, even his family reprimanded him for constantly overworking himself. Not that he bothered about it at all, he has promised to defend this village and he'll dedicate it even till its end. He doesn't make promises that he'll break it soon afterward.**

"Da Vinci, do you detect anything in the nearby distance?" Kiritsugu asked.

"No... Nothing suspicious on my radar" Da Vinci answered

He continues to scouts around the area and moving even further from the refuge. Any oversight would be proven fatal, just like how Camelot was. A mad show that reawakens his worst nightmare that he wishes to never see it again. At least that madness has ended.

"By the way, don't you think the weather keeps getting worse over time? It was just a sky full of white clouds 5 days ago, but now it just dark and gray cloud covering the entire sky. There's no rain, yet..." The assassin asked.

"Yeah... The level of mana and mystery keeps rising over time and it probably has some effects on the weather itself. I think that if it keeps on with a pace like this, people would be dying from mana poisoning soon enough." Da Vinci asked.

Servants benefit greatly from mana as they can absorb it from the surroundings to revitalize or heal themselves, but normal humans? They can't, too much mana will also outrightly kill them.

The assassin continues searching around until Da Vinci picks up something. The inventor quickly guides him to hide. The assassin quickly hides himself away, waiting for further instruction.

"Da Vinci, what's going on?" The assassin whispered.

"I'm picking up a lot of signals from the West, proceeds with cautions." Da Vinci warns him.

Kiritsugu quickly making sure he won't get detected. His A+ Presence Concealment would make him straight up invisible as long as he doesn't attack. Evading detection, he discovered a large encampment that consists of a large amount of soldier, what seems to look like monstrous beasts held inside a cage, many mechs being calibrated for uses. He takes a quick estimation of the number of enemies.

"Tsk, 4... No, 5000 of soldiers, a hundred of beasts, 30 artilleries, 30 fighter planes, fifty robots..." Kiritsugu gave himself the estimations, could be lower or higher as this is just his quick estimation.

"Should you return and report about this?" Da Vinci asked.

"No, I need to get every possible information and intelligence from them. If I have done so, we would be able to plan a better tactic and taking them down should they come for the refuge. If they weren't coming here to destroy the refuge then we should leave them alone. Even so, if you want to get the tiger cub, you must go into the tiger's den." The assassin answered.

"Guess there is no stopping you then..." Da Vinci let out a sad smile before she let him do his job.

Kiritsugu moves quickly toward the encampment, searching for the command quarter. Still, he found it extremely strange, the soldiers stand still as if they were statues, not even a single word is spoken from them, except for those who are calibrating the equipment and even then they don't talk. The camp was almost dead silent unlike how normal military encampment is. He knew something is wrong but he'll have to leave it to later. Right now, their information is his utmost priority. Moving silently undetected, he could feel the power radiating through the soldier, beasts, all of them. They seem to be hellbent on destroying what they were being commanded for.

"These things are even radiating mana, no wonder there isn't anything that can stop them save for Heroic Spirits." Kiritsugu thought.

Kiritsugu searching around until Da Vinci warns him telepathically.

"Kiritsugu! Hide! There's a Servant around!" Da Vinci gives her warnings.

The assassin quickly approaches cautiously, strange enough that there is only one tent that doesn't have any of the freakish things in it. And that is where the Servant that Da Vinci warned.

The man who is wearing the SS Wehrmacht uniform, behind him is a sniper rifle that seems to have more mana than the entire army here. He is communicating through the radio. Kiritsugu decided to eavesdrops on him.

"Listening here, Archer. We got the EKS to update the Spirit Origins' location. Your task is to destroy the place where the 3 Servants of the future are, the 1901 one, the mysterious unidentified spirit origin and whatever is there. You have 2 days. That is my order for you." The voice from the other side commands him.

"Whatever, you old man." The Archer shows his disinterest in the mission openly.

"This is an order! Should you fail this-" The voice starts to have the tone of anger before being cut off again.

"Listen here, you little shit, just because you were promoted to an officer doesn't mean you can just tell me what to do, I'm a Servant and you're a human. I could crush you into a dice and you should be glad that there is a Servant who even follows your order in the first place. I am too valuable for you to just outright trying to kill me if you could in the first place. Plus you aren't my master in the first place" The Archer gives his argument before putting down his intercom.

"Tsk, that crap sack should have known that it is getting harder to become a Servant the higher year is. If those 3 from the future could become Heroic Spirits then they must have been very special to do so. Plus, killing nonchalantly isn't my cup of tea. I'll just put it off till the last days" The Archer sighed.

"Hmm? Seems like there is something here... Probably my imaginations." That's what the SS Archer thinks it is.

Kiritsugu has already quickly made his way out of the encampment, he got everything he needed. There can only be one thing and that is...

_War..._

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Herculean Task**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**At the bottom of the cliff near the refuge.**

**He remembers the day when people would literally killing each other over the chance to become wealthy. The extremely harsh conditions of excavating these precious ores turn the gold rush into the death race where people fought each other for gold and supplies and those who made it past the winter claim it all. Despite never been in it, his nature would make him felt bad about it regardless. As his mind remembers, his strikes cleave through the rock almost effortlessly thanks to his Servant's strength and the new pickax that he made by himself with the material sent by Chaldea under his request. He called it. "Herculean Task" as it allows its wielder to strike with the power of the legendary Greek hero. Heracles.**

"Hey there, bring this to my workshop please" The old Archer gives him the sack full of ore.

"Okay, I'll bring these things to your workshop" The militant gives a sad smile as he held the sack in one hand while other climbs the ladder. It is obvious that he's a Servant, but why can't he remember anything about himself?

After putting the contents inside the sack into the crates that were stacked inside the old Archer's workshop, he climbs down for another delivering trip. Or so he thought...

"Hey, how about we switch it up? I'll be carrying the ores while you mine" The old Archer suggests.

Before the militant has any word to say, the old Archer has already thrown the pickaxe at the militant.

"It will be a nice change of pace. So good luck!" The old Archer laughed heartily before carrying the sack himself.

The militant sighed, he tightens his grip on the pickaxe but for some reason, he felt uneasy holding it. He sweats profusely while his body shivers. He felt something is wrong with him but he got a job to do and he won't let his fear got the best of him. Taking a deep breath, he let out a strike with all his might.

"CLANG!"

The moment the pickax struck the ridge. A memory in his mind flashes over him as it showing him smashing someone's head open with the same tool, not exactly the one he's holding but looks the same. The militant quickly shut off that memory while he holding himself from vomiting in disgust. He knew he is a soldier but why now? Why does it flash over his mind right now?

The old Archer who has just gotten down the ridge and seeing him knelt down, he quickly got to him to check if he's alright.

"Are you alright? You look really pale right now." The old Archer checking on him.

"Yes..." The militant answered hesitantly.

"Just stop lying about your condition, you are a lot more unstable than how you thought." The old Archer scold him.

"I... I just remember something..." The militant answers.

The Archer raises his brows. He is interested in what the militant has just remembered.

"Can you tell me what it-" The Archer was about to ask until the refuge's guardians have told them to come up for the meeting.

"We got a report from Assassin! You two get up there so we can hold the meeting!" The Ruler speaks loudly so that the two underneath the ridge would be able to hear what he's talking about.

Afterward, the Ruler quickly goes out of their sight.

"Tsk, let us get over this then I'll check up your condition." The old Archer sighted.

The old Archer quickly walks his way towards the rope ladder that went to the top of the ridge, leaving the man who has seen something that has scarred him inside his memory. The militant begins to questions himself what did he do in his past. But he decided to just get over it, as the only thing he can do right now, is to let the time tell it sooner or not.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**The Meeting**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**At the meeting tent in the refuge**

"What!? You are saying they have come there to take us down?!" The Ruler surprised about what the Assassin has reported.

"Had they actually come for us Chaldean alone then we could easily deal with it. But the refuge now also in danger because of us. I also heard about the EKS, I don't know what that thing is but base on my intuition, it is most likely has something to do with that large crater that we found Pierce and his men nearby it." The Assassin gives his opinion.

"Yeah... It is extremely strange for a crater like that to be near the shore. It couldn't be Omaha Beach where the D-day took place as there isn't anything but that large ass one." Emiya gives his word.

While everyone is discussing what is going on. The militant's silence begins to make other suspicious about him.

"I think you should say something..." The white-haired Caster suggests him.

"I... I know some details about the EKS." The militant stutters.

"Please tell us." The Chaldea Master asks.

"EKS is an acronym for Evangelion Kill Sat, a laser satellite that was made by those German for one purpose. To automatically destroy any Servants with Spirit Origin whose year of becoming Servant below 1900." The militant divulge the information.

"They... actually made that?..." Irisviel shivered.

The militant also explains how powerful the thing is. After he has just done speaking about the firepower equation of the thing. The Chaldean Intercom blares up with the voice of a certain King of Heroes.

"They what! They made something far more powerful than Ea?! Those mongrels will paid for this!" Gilgamesh's voices went through the intercom as his hologram shows him being furious.

"Gil! I know you being mad but please don't rayshift here." Gudao tries to calm him down.

"Tsk, I don't need you to tell me what to do, but that doesn't make me any less angry. If I can enter the singularity, I'll use my full strength Enuma Elish on those mongrels to show them that no one is allowed to be stronger than me. No one!" Gilgamesh's anger can be felt on the other side.

"Now that I have vented my egoistical hero side, I'm the wise king of Uruk, Gilgamesh. And I am here to give you advices and opinion in this matter." Afterward, Gilgamesh calmed down as fast as how he angered.

"First off, in order for something to be more powerful than Ea, that thing has to predate Ea itself," Gilgamesh explained.

Now that is actually worrying. There aren't many things could possibly rivaling Ea in its age. The thing was formed back in the Genesis-era where the Earth is being formed. If it predates even Ea itself then just what could the said thing be?

"Before you try to think about what such a thing can possibly be, I recommend focusing on the matter at hand as it is more important and urgent than trying to figure out what that thing is. Meanwhile, I'll search in my treasury to see if there's anything that could give me clues or pointing out that there is something predate Ea itself." Gilgamesh said before he turns off the comm.

"So... what should we discuss next?" The Ruler asked.

"Know your allies and know your enemies, soon you'll claim victory in all fights. We need to know more about the enemy we have to fight against." Kiritsugu said.

"Dad? When were you Zhuge Liang?" Shirou asked as he noticed his father started to use strategists' quotes more frequently.

"Just saying, son. So? Do anyone have any clues." Kiritsugu said.

"I do, this is all my personal experience during the time I fought for my homeland, Finland." The white-coat said.

"Guess that explains the white coat you wearing all the time," Kuro said.

"Anyway, this will be a long one but very important for you to know." The Finnish said.

"The enemy's troops are divided into 5 ranks. The first is Infantry and they are the weakest of the bunches. A well-placed normal sniper shot would take it down. But let me remind you, no matter what should you ever be careless as they can still turn you into flying gore pieces with their bolt-action rifle. These kinds of troops are only made for one purpose and that is to be cannon fodder for those higher-ups." The Finn explained.

No one said anything but they felt like things could get extremely worse. They just know it.

"Up next is 2nd Class. They fill in many roles in the Nazi army as they have 3 classes. Sniper, Artillery, and Stormtrooper. I'll cut their name short to save time. 'Sniper' would get to high-area where they can't be compromised in order to take down any defensive weaponry operator. Arty will stay from a distance from the battlefield as they'll raze the battlefield first to clear a path for the vanguard. The StT armed with their SMGs will charge into the frontlines and destroy anything that is still moving in their sight. All of their weapons are mana charged to destroy anything in one shot if they don't have enough mana or mysteries. They are more resistant than Infantry too." The white-coat explained further.

Pierce and his squad started to sweat when they tried to comprehend how powerful those things can still become.

"The up next is 1st Class. They are divided into 2 classes. Beastmaster and Pilot. One of those beasts alone can destroy a battalion of tanks and the 1st class by themselves aren't any less dangerous with their assault rifle-" The Finn got cut off while explaining by Assassin.

"You mean those beasts that are wearing soldier helmets?" The Assassin asked.

"Yeah, and boy those things are extremely resilience that I can only see them destroy is getting hit by a mana charged cannon directly or a Heroic Spirit's attack." The Finn explains it before continue.

"Those fighter planes are also no laughing matter either. No amount of normal protection or cover would save you from getting turned into Swiss cheese by their machine gun or being a splatter on the ground by their bomb, the only way I could think is to have a mana-pumped sandbag or wall or-" The Finn said before cut off by the tanned Archer.

"Or perhaps... I got an idea." The tanned Archer speaks his opinion.

Everyone is looking at him, hoping that he is holding the key to this predicament.

"But first, Jii-san?" Shirou looking at his father.

"Yes?" The Assassin answered back.

The father and son whisper to each other, out of the ears of the people in the meeting. A bit later, he announced his idea for everyone. Everyone surprised that such a solution was possible for them,

"That's actually killing two birds with one stone. Not only we actually able to impede the enemies' advance but also protect us from heavy caliber attacks like fighters and artillery." The Ruler exclaimed when a satisfying solution was given.

"Yeah, this will be going to save us a lot of time and materials in building barriers. Not to mention, it is going to be tougher than any of the defenses I could make." The old Archer commented.

"So that is settled, I'll be explaining the next enemy to you. This one... if you Heroic Spirit still find all the previous child's play then here's the one that could easily match up with you all in combat. This one is called... Knight's Cross. Those things are real monsters to be reckoned by even Heroic Spirits and those things don't even die when they supposed to. They wield machine guns if they were by themselves and they have the combat level of Servants. To add more fuel for the fire, those things don't come alone by themselves. They control those mechs that are called Panzersoldat, those things are armed with HMG in one arm that could shred Servants to pieces and the other one is a tank cannon that a single shot is more powerful than a large volley of artillery infused to one single shot itself. Basically, unless you completely pulverize the Panzersoldat, its controller, the Knight's Cross will dismount out of it and fight you directly. Not that they are unbeatable by Servant's standard but very tough. No enchanted gears or weapons except for Servant's level of mystery could ever defeat it."

Everyone is silence, they knew things like these would come. Pierce stares silently, shows nothing in his face while his squad is sweating bullets in fear. The Servants have nothing to say until Pierce asked.

"You said there are 5 ranks and you explained 4. So what is the last one?" Pierce saying it while his intuition basically screaming that he's opening a Pandora's box.

"The last one..." This time, 'the Finn's' face turned pale, his voice isn't as tough anymore but replaces by fear and uncertainty.

"...is called Grand Cross" The Finn let out a heavy breath after saying it as if he has said anything sacrilegious.

Seeing 'the Finn's' face. Everyone knew that this thing can only be a monster of a nature that can't be taken down by a Servant alone. Kuro jumps in and said, "What is it?"

"I didn't exactly fight this kind of enemy but I learned about it through tattered reports of where the said thing has combated. That thing has the power of multiples Heroic Spirit combined, that thing true strength not only lies on sheer power alone but also leadership. That thing can slash you with its saber into hundreds of pieces before you realized you're dead if you aren't a Heroic Spirit and even then, you can't fight that thing by yourself alone. You must team up with at least 3 Servants or more if you wish to be able to defeat it. That thing can wield any weapons with complete mastery, its riding skill with the Panzersoldat can make that damn thing act as if it has a mind of a Grand Cross of its own. IF you see THAT THING, DON'T HESITATE to use your Noble Phantasm on it. Nothing else would deal enough damage to finish it off." The Finn explained nervously.

Everyone is now staring at each other, don't know what to do. Until one person decided to speak up and that person is Gudao.

"Listen up! Everyone. Us Chaldean has fight far worse enemy and more dangerous than these. Chaldea has fought against many destructive foes who threaten the existence of the world, even against the Evil of Humanity. Goetia, Tiamat, Demonic Bodhisattva. Even the Goddess of Lust, Mara. There isn't anything us Chaldean should back down from fighting if it threatens the future of humanity. Compare to those, the Nazi is just a pawn compared to a queen." Gudao gives his speech.

Everyone is looking at him silently while he just standing here, Gudao thought that he probably played a wrong move and got himself embarrassed. That was what he thought until he heard clapping from someone, he looks around and sees the old Archer clapping his hand.

"This... this is what we needed. A determined leader with a burning heart that can be seen through his eyes, a man who refused to give up when everything appeared futile. This man, I swear that he is far more experienced than he looks, a Master of over 200 Servants. All follow him out of respect. Under his command, we'll make it through this hell!." The old Archer said.

"That... I'll have to agree with you. I might be a colonel but that rank is pointless in this situation. What we'll need is someone who has fought along with Servants and can devise tactic on the fly with such a force of nature." Pierce said.

"I also agree with this. I might be a Servant and a protector of this refuge but I'm not a general or tactician of sorts so I'll be relying on you too." The Ruler said.

"And of course, we Chaldean will always follow our Master no matter what, That man is an epitome of an unbreakable will and he'll make it work. We just know it." The tanned Archer said.

"So everyone has agreed that we'll fight against them no matter what?" Gudao said.

Everyone gives a nod, there is no choice in regard to this. They together will repel the enemy no matter what.

"We'll need proper firepower too. Archer, can you make siege weapons?" Pierce said.

"Hmm, yes I could." The old Archer thinks for a while before saying anything.

"Good, we'll need to also able to take down or impede Beasts and Panzers too," Pierce replied.

"A layout of the surrounding area would serve us well too. Does anyone here can draw?" The tanned Archer asked.

Pretty much everyone basically saying "No" after Shirou said it, but a hand was raised and it belongs to the militant.

"Wow, I actually didn't expect you to know how to draw," Shirou said.

"Don't judge me, I know how to draw properly at least. Isn't that what you ask for?" The militant said.

"I'm not saying that I disappointed in you, it just that I surprised when you are actually knowledgeable about artistry at the very least," Shirou explained.

"So are we agree in letting him do the layout drawing?" Gudao said.

Everyone else has no comment. They might know a lot about combat but drawing is obviously not their expertise.

"Well, you got the layout drawing, you better be drawing and scouting properly or else I have to do the scouting part and basically waste away the time I could spend to built barriers and defenses." The tanned male Archer said.

"I know! Just trust me on this one, okay? I swear that I'll draw properly and not wasting your time! I swear my vow!" The militant swears his vow.

"Hold on, only you and your father can do this barrier building?" Pierce asked.

"These defenses are heavily limited to our expertise and no one else can do the same," Shirou said.

And so everyone agrees on letting Shirou and Kiritsugu to build defenses. Kiritsugu knows a lot about espionage and ambushes so it would be perfect for him to do the layout of the defenses.

"Moving on, to the next subject. Hey! Old Archer, can you make more weapons for us to fight against the oncoming enemy?." the Finn said.

"Mass production? It might drain my stamina but if it's to help this refuge then I'll gladly do so." The old Archer said.

"Can you also improve our weapons, you did say that the more mysterious the materials, the stronger said weapon. You even said that if you give an old and rare enough material, the weapons can even defeat legends of old!" Pierce said.

"While that is true, I forgot to explain how Pack-a-Punch actually works. It is true that the more mysterious the material, the stronger the gun. But there is one thing, the more mysterious said material that was made into the gun. The higher chances that the gun will explode upon the user during uses due to the instability of the material, killing its user instantly." The old Archer explained.

"WHAT!" Pierce surprised about how it actually worked.

"You know about the circuit that imprinted on your gun? Those things are not for decorating purpose, those mana circuits are made to deliver mana throughout the weapon to boost the weapon firepower to beyond its maximum actual threshold without breaking itself apart. The more mysterious the material, the harder it is for me to make a stable enough mana circuit to prevent self-destruction of said weapon. If it's got too mysterious or old, I would be unable to make a proper enough circuit and thus just give up doing so. It would take a collaboration of me and a Caster of Age of God if you wanted me to turn something like that into a gun." The old Archer said.

"But Chaldea sent you the Hercules's Swordaxe to make it into a wea-" Pierce tried to inquire only to be cut off soon.

"That thing? Unfortunately, that piece of sharpened flooring is way too mysterious for my comprehension and thus I decided to just turn the said thing into a pickaxe that would benefit me in mining for materials. Brass and Dark Steel is the most powerful I can make without it self-destructing upon itself during uses." The old Archer said.

"You turn the thing into a pickaxe?! That pickaxe which you called "Herculean Task"?!" Pierce is in denial about how a powerful piece of equipment got shrunk down to pickaxe, a fucking pickaxe!

"Hey, there is no chance that a pickaxe can somehow explode upon itself, you know?" The old Archer said.

Both of them are arguing about how the old Archer just turned the weapon of a legend to a pickaxe, everyone around them lets out a sigh seeing this argument alone. That was until the Ruler intervenes did both of them finally stop arguing.

"I got much more urgent task to deal with, you do you." The old Archer said to his Master before he went back to his workshop.

"Sigh... Did I make him mad?" Pierce asked.

"No, he just put the refuge to his top priority over arguing with his Master, that old man I saw is much more patience than how you see." The Ruler said.

"You seem to able to see a lot more in people compare to me," Pierce replied

"Let just say that what I did in my life has a lot of impact on me." The Ruler said.

Pierce decided that he shouldn't speak more than he should less he wanted himself to be more embarrassed. When he about to walk toward the exit, Pierce heard the Ruler said:

"I have to announce to the refugees about this"

"Wait, you going to?" Pierce surprised about how straightforward the man actually is.

"Had I not pull any punch back when I was alive, I wouldn't be a Heroic Spirit now. Plus, the enemy will come regardless, and the refugees will going to face it no matter what. If I told them now, there may be panic but it will benefit them in the long run. Trust me." The Ruler said as he walks toward the exit to announce the situation.

Pierce stares at him silently, he's downright nice but also straightforward. He wondered if he has come across him at some time considering he is also a US soldier. At this point, there aren't many left in the meeting tent only the white-haired caster, his squad, and the tanned skin little Archer. Many have left to do their things. So he has no reason to stay here anymore.

He walked out towards the exit and brace for whatever to happen next. To his surprise, everyone in the refuge is silently listening to the Ruler announcement. There is no panic, only understanding of what may come. That very silence makes Pierce unnerved how can they keep a straight face after hearing something like that. He comes close to a refugee and asked.

"You heard what he said, right? The Nazi is coming to this place-" Pierce got cut off before he said everything.

"Yes, we know that already. Truth be told, considering how quickly advanced in their tech and magecraft, we have already known that this place would soon get busted eventually. There is no time did we truly at peace, feeling the dread of getting destroy like ants against pesticides. But did we despair? Did we afraid? No, we live each of our days at our fullest, no matter what the next day will be. If the Nazi is coming for our heads then we will fight back like how we did at Warsaw Uprising. Even if it ends with all of us returning to our soil." The old man said.

Pierce has finally seen it for himself. The refuge has always been determined from the start, it just that he failed to see it. No matter what their fate will be, surrender won't be one of them. He knew fighting a large army by Servants alone won't be a viable idea when there are people needed to be protected calculated in. So the refugees are going to join the fight and they won't take no for answer.

_"This will be going to be a long day," Pierce said while seeing the wind blowing from the horizon. He only has one day worth of time left to prepare and he'll have to make it work._

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Shadow **_**_Border  
Minds of the Strategists_**

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**At the theater of Shadow Border**

**A place where those whose expertise not lying on direct combat gather to see the current situation in the Singularity. While it is called "Theater". In truth, it is more of an observing chamber for all those Servants who are not selected to rayshift into the singularity. In this case, most of Chaldean Servants can't and so this place ended up more crowded than how it could be imagined.**

"Well, I think I can take a break right now. There's nothing worth seeing here right now, especially that tanned Archer" Cu Chulainn said as he walks toward that exit. There is a reason why he doesn't think Emiya too highly.

Now the theater started to clear up. Some restless Servants would rather do supply run compare to sitting here and having nothing worth to see. Some just content with seeing the preparation.

"You know, if I could get in there, I could give them some advice about how to prepare but I can't get in so I have nothing to said." Waver grumbled.

Right now, Waver who has the Spirit Origin of Zhuge Liang is sitting next to his disciple, Gray, who was thought to be the distant descendant of King Arthur and his half-sister who has the Spirit Origin of Sima Yi. Both of them sit next to Waver as they listen to his grumble.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me you wanted to go back to work right now?" Renies, his half-sister said.

"No, it isn't funny if I die from overwork, especially right now." Waver replied

He has followed Gudao all the time ever since he was summoned. For all those times, he has never left Gudao's side as the strategist who advises him on what he has to do. For all of the fights and combats never has he failed him and right now, he is benched here just because of his Spirit Origin's ages. Still, he'll appreciate the free time and any rest he is given right now.

"Anyway, if you liked to stay here then fine. I got to go to the bathroom." Waver said.

"You going to take a leak huh?" His sister teases him.

"What!? It's an obvious thing any living animal would do!" Waver said it while he still has his cheek are red from embarrassment.

He soon just walks out of the theater while his sister giggles. As much as he appreciates her, their relationship is basically a love-hate relation like how their Spirit Origin is with each other. As he walking through the hallway, he came across someone who he would have preferred to stay away from her haven't it been to the current circumstances. And that person is the daughter of a certain Magus Killer, the different one compared to the other little white-haired Caster. Her name is Miyu. She has black hair and golden-brown eyes and those eyes are her biology proof that she is Shirou's sister or at least the younger Shirou. Right now, she is wearing her coat and scarf and staring at him with the far-off look.

"Mr. Waver, why are you looking so distraught?" Miyu asked

"I just don't want to paint a large target on my back for a certain someone from "Father's Club" for being suspicious for doing something inappropriate to his daughter." Waver said.

The Emiya Family is a strange result of fate itself. Most of the time, almost no Servant have their relatives to also made it to Throne of Heroes and a few at most having one like siblings or betrothed one. And here, a family of heroes through their intertwined and bounded fate to never separate from each other no matter what through fate and circumstances. Chaldea just happened to be a perfect place where they would able to get back with each other again. The Emiya Family has also set up an example of family and parenthood for many Servants and legends. Some have taken an example like how Artoria and Mordred managed to fix their broken family relationship by taking a page of them. It is a popular topic among the community about how a family can reach the Throne of Heroes.

Waver and Miyu ended up talking with each other longer than how they expected considering their initial circumstances. Even Waver forgot that he has to go to the bathroom until he realized his body urging him to do it now.

"I'm sorry but I have to go to the bathroom now." The moment Waver done speaking did an announcement went throughout the Shadow Border.

"All Servants who are strategists please meet up in the meeting room." The announcement made by Da Vinci can be heard throughout the Shadow Border.

"Tsk, I have to get this done soon, see you later." Waver said.

"See you later too," Miyu said her goodbye to him.

It seems like he is going to work no matter what. He'll enjoy the little time he has and makes the best out of it before he gets back to work.

**15 minutes later in the meeting room**

"Gentlemen, we here to discuss and devise our tactics and plans for our Master. Since we couldn't enter the Singularity on our own, we will have to rely on whatever our Master managed to send to us, information or layout map alike. But first, we'll need to make sure that everyone is here. So let us check up." Waver said.

"Napoleon?" Waver asked.

"Yes!" the said man answered.

"Good, Caesar?" Waver continued to check.

"At present!" Caesar said.

"Okay, Hector?" Waver said while he smokes his cigar.

"Yeah, I'm here." Hector of Troy said it while carrying the face of a tired uncle. His face actually doesn't tell what he actually felt right now though.

"Good, Iskandar?" Waver continued to check.

Unfortunately, there isn't a single indication that he was here in the slightest. That man was loud, bulky and buff. There is no chance in hell that he could be overlooked at all. Waver sighed before he marks Iskandar as dismissed did he heard the little girl from behind him. The little girl that he heard was Da Vinci.

"Waver! Iskandar is just having a look at a video game that he got from a supply run from a modern singularity. He said he'll be here soon enough." Da Vinci said before walking out of the room.

"Good grief, we'll continue without him. First, I'll present to you all the layout maps that were given by Master." Waver pointed at the pieces of paper on the table.

" you saying these works of art are our layout maps?" Napoleon said.

"What are you saying? Did you already take a look at it when I was talking to Da Vinci?" Waver said.

"If you say that then yes. These drawings are actually beautiful looking yet it looked sad when I look at this. These things could have taken a bit more refinement and bam, you have a masterpiece in your hand. It doesn't take a mind of great artists like Da Vinci who you were talking to understand this." Napoleon said.

"Hmm, you know. Napoleon is kinda right. It is beautiful yet when I looking at it, I felt sad somehow. It probably because of the drawing style that makes living people so dull compares to the surrounding. But hey, I'm a soldier, not an artist." Hector said.

"Well, let's get back to the matter at hand. These layout maps and drawings show the current area that Chaldea has to protect. It is not going to be simple to have a good look."

"Hey, why do we have to take a look at these papers when we could just ask Da Vinci to show us the area layout that was taken by Sheba?" Julius Caesar asked.

"As useful as Sheba is, that thing is, unfortunately, can't show us anything else other than the top look of the surrounding which could potentially overlook some details. The drawings here will reveal all of the nook and cranny of the area." Waver said.

"The area is on top of a ridge, below at the bottom of the ridge is the shore that can't be accessed by any other way other than ship or boat. Going further into the mainland is a large forest and some large hills protruding from a distance away from the village. Does anyone have something to say?" Waver said.

"First off... Does the refuge has some cannons?" Napoleon answered.

"Do you always expect an impoverished refuge to have cannons? Well, they will have some soon enough from a certain Servant there if I heard from our Master correctly." Waver answered.

"Okay! I'll handle that." Napoleon answered.

"Do the refuge have tough war-" Before Caesar said all of what he wanted to say did he got stop by Waver

"No, it is 1950 in that singularity, swords were discarded and considered useless, they were replaced by firearms." Waver answered.

"Guess there isn't much of what I can help," Caesar said sadly.

Everyone keeps discussing with one another, trying to devise a plan. But most of the time, many plans were considered not suitable or relied too much on the non-sufficient resources of the refuge. The discussion keeps getting nowhere. That was until Iskandar who is wearing his T-shirt of a certain video game franchise walking in the meeting.

"Hey, what did I miss?" Iskandar laughed heartily.

Everyone there fills Iskandar in what he missed. Iskandar thinks carefully about what everyone discussed and he takes a good look at the layout map. A few minutes have passed and the tension keeps rising. Everyone feels like their joints could go stiff from the tension alone. Finally, Iskandar lets out a sigh as he explained.

"You know that there are major differences in conventional warfare between ancient and modern times, right?" Iskandar said.

Everyone there went silent, how can they actually miss such an obvious difference like that.

"The only reason we were unbeatable by anything that isn't a Servant or Phantasmal Being is because of mystery factor. The moment mystery went out of the window and we are not anything better than a normal human and that singularity there proves my point." Iskandar enforces his points further.

"So if anything, we need to think the other way. Change your way of thinking. Choose a different course of action." Iskandar adds further evidence.

"So you have heard, any conquests started with a small step and this is step one! Secure the path!" Iskandar started to devise the plan.

"I see, by routing your allies and deceiving your foes to follow your tactic so that you control the flow of battle. No wonder that you are known as the King of Conqueror." Napoleon commented.

"From what Kiritsugu reported, the enemies will attack at nightfall and they'll start it with an artillery barrage to clear up the field so that they would get a starting advantage." Waver said.

"Nighttime, huh? Then we'll make it into our advantage. Step two! Ascend from darkness!" Iskandar said.

"I don't exactly sure how one can still fight on equal ground if they were received such powerful initial attack," Hector said.

"From what I heard, Shirou and Kiritsugu have together made their unique defensive barrier which was exclusive to their abilities." Waver replied.

Hector thinks about what Waver said more carefully for a while. Later, a smile showed on his face.

"I see... I see what you are talking about." Hector said.

"No matter how powerful their artillery can be, those things won't make a single dent in that defense. When that happens, a chance to counter-attack will show itself." Hector said while fiddling with his Durandal.

"And when the time comes, we shall take this to step three! Rain fire!" Iskandar roared.

"When they thought that got an easy victory, that will be the moment they were proven wrong. Overconfidence is, after all, a slow and insidious killer. And when they were returned with a powerful counter-fire. It will be sure without a doubt that it will cause disarray and chaos." Caesar commented.

"And it will be our stepping stone to step four! Unleash the Horde!" Iskandar devised his next step.

"I'm sure hope that you aren't sending more people to their deaths. They already have too much in their plates." Waver commented while having a serious expression in his face.

"My retainer, I'm sure that you know I have a further understanding of the scale between risk and reward than anyone here. Do you think that I'm the kind of man who willingly sending his own men to their futile deaths? I'm sorry but it is wrong to assume that I'll just command my men to run blindly straight to their deaths." Iskandar explained yet still keeping his tranquil air.

"I... I understand." Waver said as his mood started to return to normal.

"Good, cause we'll going to move on to step five! Skewer the winged beasts." Iskandar said.

"You see here, the enemy has air superiority like what the report has written and that would soon be proven detrimental against us. It is an absolute law in warfare. The higher ground you have, the more advantage you are. But in this case, we can't bring any Servants with aerial Noble Phantasms because our enemy has a trump card against us older Servants. To add insult to injury, we have no modern Servant with aerial Noble Phantasm." Iskandar explained.

"So anti-air also takes a great priority in our plan, should we also tell them or-" Napoleon tried to chime in before Iskandar cut short of his speech.

"That isn't needed my friend, that King of Swords and his sister the Lady of Blades, back in the Fourth Holy Grail War Singularity when I was a Servant candidate in that war, I have clashed my blade with him. Even in my Gordius Wheel which I used to take flight and move with an insurmountable speed. He still managed to hit me. Even with my _Ionioi Hetairoi,_ his kingdom of swords has stopped my army dead in its track. I have no regret when I clashed with such a man like that, he has the power that worthy of a king, a man who will impose his will on the entire world, carries his conviction with that heart white like glasses. Yet will never regret his decision and will continue on until his last breath, and I doubt he would stop if even so." The King of Conqueror gives his opinion about that man.

"Now I'm interested in why you called that little Archer there the Lady of Blades," Napoleon asked.

"When I first met her, she is said to be the holder of the power of that King of Swords, I decided that I want to test her mettle and so we have a sparring fight. And boys does she doesn't disappoint me in the slightest. If I have anything to say about her, the Lady of Blades and King of Swords are two sides of one same coin. Same yet different, they wield one same technique yet managed to differentiate so much from it that it was unreal. If I equated their techniques to 10 forms then they have reached the realm of 11th. To be fair, they have self-taught and created their own technique from the base and push it beyond its limit. Even if she can't do what her brother easily could, she has earned my respect and so I called her, Lady of Blades. Just like how I called her brother King of Swords." Iskandar explained.

"I see why you put them in such high regard," Napoleon commented.

"In short, they can together easily repel the fighters with ease. I just hope that they won't be caught in something bad before then." Iskandar replied.

The plan seems to be completed but Iskandar still feels like something is missing, he wanted his master to complete this mission flawlessly and he won't miss any possible factor that could let the plan to go wrong horribly.

"Hmm..." Iskandar squints at the report.

"Do you have anything to say? Iskandar?" Napoleon asked.

"That old Archer, they said that he is a noble and kind man, right?" Iskandar asked.

"Right, my liege. He also an inventor and gunsmith at the same time." Waver responded.

"Does he have a habit of helping others before considering himself?" Iskandar asked.

"Uhm... Yes?" Waver reluctantly answered.

"Hmm, it looks like I could equate him into the plan. Step 6 & 7! Wield an Iron fist and Raise hell!"

"What exactly can he do to raise hell?! I could understand wielding an iron fist but raise hell? He's a kind old man, how can you be so sure about that?" Hector asked Iskandar to explain why.

"This is where the difference between ancient warfare and modern is. Efficiency is the king on this battlefield. Efficiency was prioritized over anything else, honor is worthless and discarded away in that time. Each side resort to underhanded methods, for victory at all costs. Human life was disposable, expendable in that dark time. In the end, it just boiled down to how much life you can dump to that cesspool of death and blight and call that a victory. A reality like that would chip away any men's sanity. Soon that man would go snap should he stay in combat or seeing the defense suffered a major loss and he'll unleash his Noble Phantasm as he let his rage control him. What makes his rage so devastating is that he is a kind man in the first place. The kinder you are, the more wrathful your rage when the boundary of wrath and patience is broken. That is also part of humanity's nature, it is undeniable. That man has a regret that he brings with him to his own grave, one so deep that it influences his own action as a Servant." Iskandar explained.

"I... I can't see that old Archer could even shed a drop of rage, he just so chilled." Da Vinci chimed in.

"Lady Da Vinci, people wear many masks to hide their true feeling, his own kindhearted personality could be used to cloud his own unbounded rage, it just a matter of time until that facade would be broken," Iskandar explained.

Everyone became silent, they realized any Servants made it to the throne have a good reason to do so. That old man who is a Servant must have been something to make it the throne despite being a modern historical figure.

"So, are we done yet?" Hector asked.

"No, no matter how powerful one defense can be, if its operators are normal humans who are fighting against an army that has the power akin to Servants, then the people will die before the defense would have a chink in its wall." Waver said.

"You have a good point. If they come for Chaldean then there is nothing to worry about. But innocent people have been caught into this charade and so they have to be evacuated away as soon as they can." Iskandar said.

"There is a ridge there, why don't they just, you know? Hide there?" Caesar gives his idea.

"There are way too many people to hide, if the enemy found out, they'll be easy prey for those soldiers. Plus, a refuge that exists without being known in their intelligence before? It makes more suspicion if they found no one in said refuge at all." Hector said.

Now everyone is arguing with each other about how to deal with the refugees, tension rises with unimaginable speed as if violence would happen any second now. Things would have gone south hasn't it been for Cu bring in the last report.

"Everyone, I found this piece of paper on the way here, I read it over for context and I decided to bring it here." Cu said.

"Wait, I actually dropped something important like that and didn't notice it? Damn, guess all those overworks started to get on my mind." Waver grunted.

"So what is in the report?" Napoleon asked.

"It said, "Rescue team was dispatched by America's Resistance will arrive at the refuge right at midnight of the next day, the rescue team is led by a Rider Servant who will be giving fire support on arrival"." Cu said.

"If we calculate the time from the hypothetical starting time to midnight. The refugees will have to fight for 6 hours until the rescue team arrives. I don't know whether or not a few refugees will make it let alone the entirety of the refuges." Waver said.

"But are there any options left? If you can think of any better strategies then be my guest, my retainer..." Iskandar said.

Waver tried to squish his mind to think of any more optimal strategies but minutes have passed and Waver starting to sweat when he can't think of any better way without costing the refuge itself. Finally, Waver concedes defeat.

"Well then, we shall move to the next and final step, step 8! Freedom!" Iskandar roared.

"But, in my opinion, I have a feeling that our Master can refine it further so that it can be adaptable should the situation went out of hand," Hector said.

"Well, that is up to him, we can't interfere any much more." Waver said.

Now that a proper plan is made and prepared to be sent to the Master but before that, Iskandar added a P.S that the old Archer should not know about this plan. He guaranteed that steps 6 and 7 will work but only as long as the old Archer does not know about it. Da Vinci takes the plan to the rayshift chamber and prepares to send it to her Master.

"Godspeed, Gudao. May you able to fight against this atrocious raid." Da Vinci said before rayshift the plan for him.

_The plan soon turned into pseudo spirittron and soon will reach the hand of Chaldea Master on the other side._

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Voyage of Reminiscence**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**At the old Archer's workshop**

"Don't you having much more urgent tasks to do right now?" The militant asked.

"While my task is indeed urgent, I'm not the type to leave others to deal with their own issues if I can help them. Now please, lie down and tell me what's on your mind right now so I can see what I can help. You could refuse but-" The old Archer said before the militant already started to act.

The militant lies down, looking back at the Archer. Shined upon by the lantern that was hung up at the ceiling of the workshop, he felt as if he is seeing something that was long gone but he can't tell why or what, the old Archer still waiting for him. He decided that it might be for the best to tell whatever he can.

"It was a flashback of a moment that I smash open someone's head with a pickaxe, it happens when I tried to use your pickaxe. In my flashback, I was in a trench of sorts, people were killing each other with anything they have, shovel, pistol, rifle, etc... You name it. The weather in that memory was so horrible, it just pouring like it was raining cats and dogs... It was so bad that I instinctively tried to puke." The militant tried to squeeze any possible details that can help him.

"Do you remember anything else? Like your childhood, daily life before enlistment,..." The old Archer asked.

"No, I'm drawing a blank here, I can't remember anything else as if such memory didn't exist at all..." The militant answered

"I assumed that you have PTSD before checking up on you, but seeing the actual situation for myself makes me realized that it is much worse than I thought. You could probably have memory loss or amnesia or even worse. Not that I try to scare you but, the fact that you don't have any memory of most of your life is already alarming by itself. I just hope it isn't something that was so bad that it literally follows you to the Throne itself." The old Archer said.

The militant went silent, so much about him are shrouded in mystery. He can't even remember his own name and it starts to make him felt down.

"This is my last straw in finding anything that could help you so, try to remember anything you could probably recall." The old Archer tried to encourage him.

The Militant tried to search for any memories in his mind, anything that holds clues to his identity, he felt his mind could burst anytime right now. As if right now in his mind, he is running inside an infinite-like locomotive train that is moving on a bridge that is stretching endlessly, he desperately tried to reach the locomotive where it holds the key to his identity but nothing was ever so simple.

Behind him, the bridge itself is collapsing, taking every cabin to the void, he tried to outrun the destruction itself but he was never fast enough to keep pace with it let alone outrun it. Soon, the cabin that he is running through will soon be falling off to the void. He doesn't want to give up now, not until he got an idea of who he is. Sprinting with all his might, all his stamina. He sees it, his name! He can't discern what it is, but if he got his name. he'll get the Chaldean help to found out who he was.

But, it was too late, before he managed to get a clear look at it. The cabin he is in has disconnected from the train as it falls into the void. He tried to grasp it but it was too late. He only managed to see the first word of his name before falling to the void. He falls while stretching his hand toward the sky as if he has been forbidden from entering heaven. He falls aimlessly until he can't see the light anymore.

"Are you okay?" The kind voice of the Archer wakes him up.

He realized he has been lying face down on the floor while sweating bullet, it must have been worse than he thought.

"I remembered my name, but only the first word." The militant said.

"Then mind to share it with me?" The old Archer asked.

"It was an A, just an A" The militant answered.

"At least it is better than nothing. Plus, it started to get confusing to call you without a name so, how about Arnold?" The old Archer said.

"Arnold... I'll take it. It will be my first step to search for my identity." The militant "Arnold" said.

They talk to each other for a while, mainly to drop some stress after such a therapy session like that. That was until a certain Assassin shows up to join the conversation.

"Hey, Archer! I got something to said to you." Kiritsugu said.

"Yes? What do you have to say?" The old Archer asked.

"It is about weaponry production, we'll need you to be in top shape for tomorrow," Kiritsugu said.

"I got an urgent task to make weaponry for the refuge, you think that the refugees can fight with sticks and stones?" The old Archer asked.

"Then I'm here to resolve it for you, I have an additional Noble Phantasm that can deal with this situation so you can take the night off. You should save those energies of your for combat." Kiritsugu replied

"Hmm, why didn't you say about it before at the meeting?" The old Archer asked.

"Barricade... You already know about it at the meeting." Kiritsugu replied.

"Fair point." The old Archer grunted.

The old man now resting upon the couch that he made by himself. Thinking about how exactly does Assassin would even get any weapon at all. But he knew that if they told him to conserve his strength then he had to do so. His eyelids now starting to get heavy and he will soon fall to his sleep.

"Hopefully I made the right choice of leaving it to the Assassin's hand." The old Archer thinks before he falls to his sleep.

_A distant dream bound by Master and Servant. A fragment of memory that belongs to either one of the two. That fragment will soon reveal to show each other their true color._

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**A Glimpse of One's Past  
**_**Skyclad Observer**

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Somewhere in the USA, before WWII**

"All unit! You all can take a rest tonight, your next mission will be decided and will be announced tomorrow. All unit! Return to your post." The commanding officer after he checked to see everyone is regrouped or not.

Everyone now scatters away, each left to do their own things, the day is about to end to let the night take its place. Two siblings who never separate from each other walking side by side as they gaze up to the star. But tonight, there is no star, only a glooming sky full of dark clouds. One could tell that it is going to rain soon.

"Pierce, do you think you will be chosen to take part in the war against Nazi?" Penny asked.

"Probably likely, I can't be sure about whether or not that I would be chosen as a soldier to fight in that war," Pierce replied.

They both became silent, the idea of being separated from each other is already scary for them, losing each other is more devastating than how one could possibly imagine.

Suddenly, the rain comes crash upon them, making them soaked. But, it is fine, because they look forward to it. They run together in the rain, enjoying their own blissful moment while letting none to dare of taking it away. At that moment, their hearts are one with each other. Why do they find the idea of just running in the rain so beautiful? Perhaps, it is something that only they can understand.

"Pierce, do you remember the time when we see our grandparents pass away?" Penny asked sadly.

That moment is when Pierce sees his sister's tears dripping on her cheek. The rain can't wash away her sadness. Pierce remembers his grandparents' funeral as it was one of the darkest days in his life.

**Years before**

The sky was pouring as if it was crying for his grandparents. He and his sister have no known relatives except for them. They don't even know if have a mother or father or not.

The funeral was held using the very last and little of their grandparents' savings. Except for the funeral organizer, the funeral itself was almost dead silent if it wasn't for the rain, with almost no people at all except for the siblings. They don't even have the money for a proper burial, and cremation is still out of their range.

As the rain falls, time passing on. Pierce looks at the death bed of his grandparents, they both look peaceful. He looks silently with a far-off look in his eye wondering what had he done to lose them.

The rain lightens up a little, it still raining but not as heavy like before. The silent air can't be disrupted by the rain, accompanied by the sounds of raindrops colliding with the ground make Pierce felt every single grain of time passing by. It went on for who knows how long until the organizer realized someone is missing. He patted Pierce's shoulder to catch his attention.

"Hey kid, isn't there supposed to be a little girl around here? I forgot that she supposed to be beside you and praying." The organizer said.

Pierce's mind suddenly went full alert, he looks around for his sister anywhere but got no signs of her. Both the organizer and him looking for her around the house but still no sight of her. At that time, their house is always a distance from any community due to the place is built in a rural area. If anything, she can't be running far from him. Without a second thought, he rushes into the rain, the organizer doesn't run into the rain since he doesn't want himself to get soaked so he tried to find an umbrella before proceeding to find them

The raindrops fall on him, the blowing wind gives him chill but the rain, to him it was warm like a mother embraces, something that he never felt once in his life. But it doesn't stop him from stopping and embrace the rain itself, his sister is his top priority right now and he has to find her by all cost.

He keeps running, the sounds of splattering raindrops on the asphalt road created a harmony that kept him going on, he picks up his paces, wishes to find his own sister. Not before long, he managed to catch glimpse of her, despite the rain cloud her image away, he still able to felt her sadness and seeing her tears within the rain itself. They both running under the rain like two fishes swimming under the sea, both were alone under the sea of emptiness itself while trying to reach out to each other. Pierce picks up his pace and begins to shorten the distance between him and her. It doesn't matter how long it is gonna take, he swears that he'll reach her with all he has.

Every step he runs, he got closer to her. Eventually, he is close enough to her, she's just within his own arm's reach. Pierce stretches his arm and grabs her arm. When Penny felt something warm in her hand, she instinctively turned back and saw her own brother holding her hand and telling her to stop. Both of them slowed down and Penny soon knelt down and right at that moment, her emotions burst out of her heart. She cried as much as she can until her eyes can't drop a single tear anymore. She wailed in sadness until her stamina run out. Pierce hugs her own body tightly in his hand so she can finally calm down.

The rain still falls, and a small fog envelops their surroundings so that no one can see them. Both of them hugging each other in the rain, crying with each other.

"Penny, why did you run away?" Pierce said with a hint of sadness.

"I... I don't want to... I don't want to face the reality that we will be separated! I don't want to accept the fact that I would lose you too! Didn't you see what happened to our parents!? If God wanted us to be happy then he shouldn't have to take life away from those who deserved it! Yet it happens-" Before Penny said anymore, Pierce hugged her tighter just so he could calm her down.

"Penny, that is why life is a fleeting dream. If a journey goes on forever, would you even want to follow it with all your time? If you were immortal, would you even found any joy in life? Being immortal... is to give up being a normal person..." Pierce explained.

Penny's emotion swells up but she can't cry anymore, she has shed all of her tears, unbottled every single word and feelings. The twin held each other underneath the rain. Unknown to everything else as they let the passage of time to flow away.

Time has passed for who knows how long but they saw a light from a car. It was moving slowly through the fog in order to find them. the driver got out of the car and turns out it was the very funeral organizer from before. He tried to follow them before but unable to keep up for long, he decided to get his truck or to be exact, it was the agency's truck in order to quickly catch up but when he got to the fog, he has to drive slowly or else he'll probably crash into someone.

"Thank god that I found you, but seriously, you two sprinted for 10 miles non-stop! Just what kind of tenacity you kids are having!?" The organizer said.

Both of them dumbfounded when they realized how long and far did they run, if a marathon runner did this, no one bats an eye. But kid? It is definitely something that would be caught anyone's attention. Both of them can only stare at the organizer.

"Look, you two aren't old enough to have any inheritance or living by yourself and all of your grandparents' properties will be taken by the government. I also heard that you two have no living relative at all so you two will be forced to live in an orphanage. As much as I don't want to, but it was written by the law so I do anything to help you more. But anyway, I'll take you two to my boss so we can decide which orphanage will be suitable for you two." The organizer said.

Both Pierce and Penny have a sad look on their faces. They walk slowly into the car so that they will be taken to the burial agency, slowly waiting for their judgment, but they still their head high for as long as they are still with each other.

A while later, they got to the burial agency that they hired. The undertaker manager who is sitting in the manager room answering calls, the moment he sees his one of the funeral organizer, he turns his attention toward them.

"Okay, so what is up with these 2 kids?" The manager asked.

"Well, the thing is that. These 2 kids no longer have any living relatives, and according to the law. They likely won't be able to have any inheritance from their deceased grandparents due to the fact that their grandparents left no will at all. Even the house they live in is rented. Because of that, there will be no place for them except for orphanage." The organizer said.

"I see. Well, I'll look for any reputable orphanage with good security for them." The manager said.

"Sir, if you are going to dump us at an orphanage, why go through such length for a good one when you could just dump us at a random one?" Penny asked.

"After the serial orphans kidnapping case eight years ago that make an uproar in the media? I'll rather pay more money for safety assurance rather than getting a bad reputation. Don't ask why those 2 connect with each other..." The manager said.

"Hopefully that I won't have to take you there myself. After driving 10 miles at a slow speed, my mind has already burnt out from the stress because these kids somehow managed to sprint for 10 miles continuously with no stopping in between." The organizer said it tiringly.

"Wait, you said these 2 kids run 10 miles continuously!?" The manager asked in surprise.

The organizer explained what has transpired in the last 5 hours. Apparently, these 2 kids managed to do something that is just almost impossible for kids.

"I see. These kids are much more special and extraordinary than I thought. The fact that they weren't shaken much when I said they have to go to an orphanage or their grandparents' deaths. These extraordinary feats make clear that they don't belong to the orphanage at all." The manager explained.

"Great... If it isn't orphanage they should go then where?" The organizer asked.

"Let me tell you, I have many connections and they could help me with something like this and I just have a perfect person to handle them." The manager said.

After done speaking, he dials the tabletop phone in order to call somebody. He exchanges words through the phone for a while. After that he said.

"Okay, you all soon will have your guardian to come and take care of you. Now, you all just need to stay here not causing any trouble." The manager said.

Time flows while the rain still not stop, Pierce and Penny sitting next to each other and looking through the window, the sky still raining but that isn't what they paid their attention to. They look up at the sky, trying to gaze through the cloud and reach toward the star but of course, it was too cloudy to do so but that didn't stop them from trying.

Suddenly, the bell rang. Both of the siblings look at a man in military uniform who has just entered, the manager quickly introduces the man to the siblings.

"Kids, this man is a sergeant in the US Marine Corp. His name is Smith and he'll take care of all of you." The manager said.

Now looking back, Pierce thankful that the Sergeant has come to take care of both of them. Otherwise, they won't be who they are now.

**Back to the current time.**

"I remember, that man, he was almost like a saint, I'm thankful that he has come to take care of us," Pierce replied.

"Hey, you two! If you two keep stand under the rain like that, I'll make all of you dealing with paperwork that I'll have to deal with if you two got sick!" An officer passing by saw them.

"We sorry!" Both the siblings said as they run away. Thankfully that they didn't have any illness at all even when they got soaked for who knows how long.

_No proof ever show more insights about a person than their memory. One's identity is shaped up by one's memories. And from there, individuality is born._

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_**Final Hours**_

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**At the old Archer's workshop.**

"Huh, how long did I sleep, wait... I forgot that I have to make weapons!" The old Archer said when he wakes up before he realized that Assassin has taken the job for him.

"Tsk, he better be doing his job properly..." The old Archer said.

The old Archer moves his body up, checking to see if Assassin did the job properly or not. He sees that Arnold is still sitting near the cliff and looking at the horizon. After seeing his Master's dream, he felt that he should also check up on him. When he walks out of the workshop, he noticed that the sky was drizzling albeit slightly. He comes close to him to ask.

"How are you feeling right now?" The old Archer asked.

"I'm okay, just that I don't even know why I'm a Servant at all. I don't remember doing anything special at all. I'm not like that Finnish guy or that friendly US soldier or even you. I'm just an unknown soldier of an unknown battlefield that should be forgotten yet I'm here." Arnold explained.

"That's okay, the fact that you are a Servant prooves that you are far more special than you thought, you just don't remember it yet." The old Archer said.

"Then what should I do to search all of them back?" Arnold asked.

The old Archer went silent, the last time he has done this cause Arnold to have paralysis and fell to the ground. Servants don't suppose to get mental trauma unless it was another Servant's Noble Phantasm but it didn't. He picks his words carefully and said what would have been a fatal gambit.

"An action speaks louder than words. Perhaps you'll find them during your fight here. After all, you are a soldier, right?" The old Archer got nothing else but a half-assed answer which would probably backfire, but he can't afford to leave any trouble that would harm him and anyone who is close to him.

"I see, I'll do my best in the upcoming defense then..." Arnold answered tiringly.

After saying that, Arnold still looks at the sea that stretches beyond the horizon, the old Archer noticed that Arnold has the loo of "thousand-yard stare", it is crystal clear that it is something that he'll have to resolve sooner or later.

The old Archer now looks at the defense line that Shirou and Kiritsugu have built. They have just recently done covering up the core defense with sandbag and concrete, now they look like those bunkers that normal military used in holding defenses. Emiya and Kiritsugu are taking their rest as they sit near each other. The old Archer decided that he should talk to them.

"I hope you also did what you promised to." The old Archer said to Kiritsugu.

"Yeah, I already deposit them in nearby cases. You can take them and install them into positions right now." Kiritsugu replied.

"Good to know then, I hope that you keep your promise. See you later." The old Archer replied to Kiritsugu.

After conversing with Kiritsugu, the old Archer decided to see what did Assassin made. Walking toward the crates and seeing the results of Assassin, not what he expected but good enough.

"Not bad." The old Archer mumble while having a smile on his face.

**Somewhere closes to the workshop.**

"Okay, everyone. We are going to make our final checkup on our weapon. First is my** "Widow Maker" **which is a modified BAR, I got to say though is that Servant of mine is a sure master craftsman. Modified with optic scope, reflex sight, drum magazine, grip, and stripper clip compatibility. Got to say though, I'm sure that I'll manage to take down at least 1st Class with this weapon. What about you?" Pierce examined his weapon before asking others.

"Okay, mine is a modified M1 Garand which is now called **"Grandeur Express"**, I'm surprised that he somehow makes the bayonet and grenade launcher adaptor not obstructing each other. It has an optic scope, reflex sight, dual extended detachable magazines, stock ammo pouch, it still has its stripper clip compatibility which I'm thankful for." A soldier examined his weapon.

"Mine is a modified Springfield which is now called **"Persephone's Punishment"**. It has both optics and reflex sight, and he somehow managed to recreate the Pedersen Device and integrated it to firing 30-06 Springfield round in semi-auto! The Pedersen Device can be removed for stripper clip reload if I somehow run out of ammo for the magazine chamber." Another soldier examined his rifle.

"Oh, right! My weapon is a heavily modified Thompson which that old man called **"Valentine's Firing Squad"**. The large 100-round drum mag that he modified it to the weapon somehow not jamming like how it supposed to. Equipped with grip and belt, I can't think of any more possible way to improve this thing." A soldier followed up in examining his weapon.

"You guys know about the M1 Carbine that I used to have until I lost it during life on the run from those Wehrmacht, right? Back when our army still here, before proceeding on any missions, I always dismantle my weapon for maintenance, so much that I even remembered every single part of the gun. And that Servant of your managed to recreate every single part that I described flawlessly. Okay, back to the weapon. This recreated M1 Carbine of mine is now called **"Winter's Sin**** RC-1k"****. **It has duals extended mags taped with each other for reduced reload time, optics and reflex sights which both of them are capable of quick interchangement with each other. The normal rifle stock is replaced with paratrooper's folding stock version for easy handle and weight reduction." A soldier explained enthusiastically.

"Back during the start of the war when we were still issued with WW1 armaments before receiving newer stuff. To be fair, I always bring my Lewis gun ever since I received it and for some reason, I carried the thing with me throughout the entire war until you already know what it is. Of course, it's supposed to be rusted by now, but the man takes a very good look at this and well, behold my supreme firearm! The heavily modified Lewis gun of mine which is now called **"Kiss of Death"**. There aren't many things I can tell are changed. Other than this obvious 97-round mag, chambered in 30-06 Springfield. Made entirely with brass and dark steel with a built-in heat sink to prevent over-heat. This thing has some designing texture on some parts of the gun just for aesthetic purposes. Not sure if it fires faster or not but at least I'll be able to fight them back instead of hiding like a rat." A soldier tells the details of the weapon that he is holding.

"It is my turn, right? Mine is basically a heavily modified Enfield rifle which is now called **"Lee-Onhart"**. To be fair, I can't see much difference other than the higher and adjustable magnification scope, stripper clips pouch that also doubles as cheek pad. Same materials like the one you guy has." Another soldier in Pierce's squad followed up.

"Well, Pierce's Servant said that this thing is so 'trash' that he can't think of any way to improve this weapon much so this modified M3 Grease gun which is called as **"Black Gold"**. I asked that old man to improve this thing further and it took some time but it was successful in the least. Now, it has a 50-round drum mag, silencer that doesn't impair the gun firepower, reflex sight. It ain't much but at least it is better than having two magazines taped with each other and then call it an upgrade." The next soldier said.

"You know one of those obscure weapons that not being issued normally to infantry? Well, I'm just happened to be able to receive one of those. It is an M1941 Johnson, I'm pretty sure that you guys didn't get to see much of it as I was sent to your team during near the supposed to be Berlin Offensive. Anyway, the old man made it into **"M2k-Spitfire"**. Modified with low magnification scope and extended magazine, I just hope that it has the mettle to withstand until daybreak anyway." The last soldier in Pierce's squad finally finishes up the weapon examination.

"Good, about the last guy, he can stay out of this one, he's already on the edge of madness and he doesn't need more bloodshed unless he wanted to go insane so, he'll be hiding at the bottom of the cliff," Pierce said why the last guy will be dismissed.

"Okay, because my Servant has finally finished my request. Those suits there will be our combat armors, completely protect us from enemy gunfire." Pierce as he introducing his squad to his Servant's creations. Nine suits of armors made entirely out of brass and dark steel. Full metal caps, bulletproof safety goggles, gauntlets, full-coverage bodysuits, and air-filter masks. These things will grant them full protection against any small arms and toxic gases. But it won't protect them from Servant's attacks and direct-hit shells. The wielders will probably be knocked around when receiving attacks of high mana-concentration but it is far more desirable than getting blown apart.

"You guys know what to do right?" Pierce asks his squad.

"Make it or break it. I'll just have to fight." A soldier said.

"One more day and we'll get out of this hell." Another soldier said.

Pierce and his squadmates are now motivated, hopeful at the idea that they'll finally see the end of their duty. They'll have one fight to go and they'll make sure that old man's efforts won't be wasted.

**When the sun begins to set**

Tensions are rising high, the air felt heavy. Everyone has decided on their roles in combat. The Finn will be taking out the artillery positions. The US will carry any people who are injured in combat to the shore below. Shirou, Kiritsugu, Kuro, Irisviel will be fighting in the front to take out any soldiers who are charging in, especially the Knight's Cross. Pierce and his squad will back up the frontline and taking down any Sniper and oncoming Infantry and enemies. Arnold is chosen as one of the people who will use the machine guns in the bunker to lay out suppressing fire to take out the stragglers who are still coming in.

Shirou who is standing on top of the bunker, using his Hawkeyes to see the area in front of him. It is as he suspected, the army of thousands of soldiers and many things are coming. Gudao can read what Shirou is thinking and know that there is no avoiding this fight. Gudao begins to prepare his signal as the enemy is getting closer to the turf. The moment his enemy comes close, he'll give his signal and all hell will break loose.

As soon as soldiers came rushing through from the forest, Gudao shouted. And in that very moment, a battle of life and death started to rage.

_We'll see the end of our tales._

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**Writer's Note: Thank god that I managed to write this out, not only fixing up the grammar but to also properly researching. I hope you guys enjoy this, and I'll manage to make the next chapter in the next 2 weeks or a month. Until then, see you later.**

**Sneak Peek: "As the rain of blood unveil my crimson cloak"**


	6. Flame of War

**Warning: ****Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

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_**Chapter 6: Flame of War**_

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**Beginning of the raid.**

**The moment before Gudao commands to initiate the plan. The machine gun bunkers will let loose upon Gudao's command against the enemies. The Wehrmacht soldiers wearing gas masks come charging in toward the refuge. Base from 'the Finnish's' intelligence. The first vanguard would mainly consist of Infantry and some 2nd Class in the mix, the defenders of the refuge know this is just a beginning of a heated fight.**

The battlefield is separated by many phalanx lines that consist of multiple spears that were rooted in the ground as a countermeasure against the first waves. Shirou and Kiritsugu have built as many of those things as they can with limited time.

Before any of them managed to reach the first phalanx line, a flare from deep inside the forest flew up toward the sky as it shines the battleground temporarily but what comes after is what actually dangerous. A volley of who knows how many artillery shells raining down upon the entire refuge itself.

When the shells impact on the refuge and the phalanx line itself. The atmosphere was shaken with an extreme intensity that could make Servant unbalanced, but that isn't what mattered. The father and son's trump card has been used and this will be where the fight will start. The artilleries volley actually didn't manage to dent let alone destroy most of the defense infrastructures that were built by them.

Most... Because the phalanx lines were broken while some of them still stand strong unchanged. This is actually because of Shirou and Kiritsugu didn't intend to build the phalanx lines with the purpose to halt the personnel but to redirect their movements in order to line them up together in order to reach maximum efficiency for machine guns, it also doubles as tank stoppers, this is actually the first step of the plan. Secure the Path. Control the flows of the battle and you will win the fight entirely.

In a considerable distance away from the battleground, the SS Archer looking through the scope of his Kar98k trying to see if there are any stragglers left after the artillery volley but what greets him in his sight wasn't large craters on the ground but the shadow of the same infrastructure behind the smokes.

"What? How did..." The SS Archer tried to figure out how did the artillery done nothing against them despite the shells were broken charged.

After the smokes were dissipated, his eyes went wide, the artillery's attack has only revealed the inner and most important part of the defense. They were... blades... Blades that knit tightly with each other, not letting a single chink within their defenses. But that begs the question, how on earth did some blades manage to easily shrug off such an attack like that. His mind started to confuse but he quickly gathers his mind and started to search for any possible answer. By eliminating the impossibles, no matter how improbable it is, there will only be the truth. But what that truth is? Only actions would speak any measurements.

"Prepare the artillery-" Before he completely said his sentences through the telecom did a flash caught his attention as he tried to determine the source of the flash that he is seeing. It was a flare but what kind of flare?. Before he realized it, the flare flashes with such brightness as if it was the second Sun. It shines brightly as it illuminates the grim and dark battleground with the color of daybreak.

Back at the refuge, Gudao has started to designate his command towards the machine gun bunkers and his Servants. Pierce's squad equipped with their armors together rushing into the battleground. Blades that revealed themselves after the artillery volley will be the squad's foxholes to take down the invading soldiers.

"You gotta thank the Chaldean Casters for their ingenuity for creating this flare with such little time. I have to refine the plan a little further if I want to get my desired result but nonetheless. Step 2! Ascends from Darkness!" Gudao's gives his encourage roar as he let the machine gun bunkers take out the enemy away.

His Servants have come out of the defense line themselves and come charging in toward the oncoming army. Of course, those invading soldiers aren't stupid enough to just charge in and die. They fire their weapons at the Chaldean Servants, confidently that it would harm them. But they should have known that a Servant won't be stupid to just take a hit without a good reason when they were in a full-scale war.

Shirou and Kuro deflect bullets that were fired at them as Kiritsugu suppressing fires back with his Calico M950, a full-auto pistol with a 100-round cylinder magazine. Iri held him tightly, healing any injuries that Kiritsugu might sustain in combat. Kiritsugu doesn't feel any weight from her as if she is as light as feather. Both of them combined their strength, an image that makes Kiritsugu like a white-cloaked angel, even when he is far from one.

Bullets and blades clashed with each other, sparks fly through the air as both the siblings getting closer to the first soldiers in their paths that they'll kill. Shirou would have easily decapitated that man haven't it been for the SS Archer firing what would have been a crippling shot if Shirou keeps that same stance at that moment but Shirou's Mind's Eyes allowed him to instinctively swerve his body to avoid that shot while still managed to strike his target.

Unfortunately, that wasn't a killing blow that Emiya managed to do so but he only managed to knock away the helmet and gas mask of the soldier. But what he sees afterward would eventually reveal the true nature of the army that they were up against.

When Emiya finally managed to see what the soldier's face is, he horrified at what he just saw. There is nothing that you can call human with that face, only what resembles a face and that is stretching it. A type of azure liquid is dripping from that face as it glows with the same color, Emiya decided he doesn't need to have that dreaded image burned into his mind as he quickly follows it up with a slash that bisects the soldier through the torso. After that, monstrosity finally fell to the ground as the corpse dissipated into azure ashes. Emiya still looks pale after seeing its true face.

"Everyone! Those things ain't human! Firing at will and not letting a single one alive!" Emiya's words echo through the battlefield. Letting every single person know about the monstrosity he has seen.

Both Shirou and Kuro now started to slaughter any enemies on their path knowing they aren't human in the slightest, only monsters that seek destruction in everything they see. Sounds of bullet clashing against blades echoes in the air. Artilleries shells razing the land further, in an unfruitful attempt to take down the Chaldean Servants because the shells' speed can't match up with the Servant's agility while the SS Archer still sniping with his rifle at the Servants in the battlefield.

**Back at the foxholes in front of the fort**

Soldiers after soldiers charging in towards the bunker, Infantry soldiers died from machine-gun barrages before reaching anywhere close to the foxholes, Pierce and his squad' enhanced weaponry managed to kill those bastards, everyone in Pierce's squad utilize anything they still remembered. Having limited manpower until the 4th Step in Gudao's Plan, they'll have to fight carefully and decisively if they want to see tomorrow.

"Left flank! 2nd Class incoming! Take them out!" A soldier of Pierce's squad shouted.

"Expressor and Punisher, scout the battlefield to see if the 1st Class appeared!" Pierce commands the sniper in his squads by using nicknames in order to cut short the commanding time.

The wooden shacks that were in front of the fort were already razed to the ground in the initial attack. Because of that, the fight has turned entirely into open warfare, easy for sniping for them but also for the enemies. Each soldier only has one weapon and they will have to be decisive or they will be dead, there is no other choice. Distinguish each oncoming enemies by their weapon, Infantry only has bolt-action rifle, 2nd Class on battlefield armed with SMG, 1st Class with Assault Rifle, can be accompanied by their beasts.

"Pierce, I think we don't need to find that said thing to know it is here..." One of the soldiers that Pierce assigned reported.

After receiving his words, Pierce checked through the scope of his Widow Maker and it confirmed what he has forethought.

Before giving his commands again, Pierce notices a fleeting shadow of someone who jumped out of the defense line. That white-cloaked man with a stern look in his eyes. There isn't anyone else here fit the bill of who he thought. It was 'the Finn'.

The Finn fires his Suomi SMG, where ever the bullets landed, a patch of snow appeared, and he is drawing a line towards the inside of the forest. After that being done, he leaps onto the snow patch and quickly materializes his skiing gear. The next moment afterward, only a hazy image of him is left, he has already initiated his role to take out the artilleries. Despite going up against an entire army, he managed to make through without being hindered thanks to the Emiya Family completely take the attention of the SS Archer. His duty won't be simple to do but it will be a requiring step for the plan.

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_**Backline Sabotage**_

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One hand wielding ski stick, the other hand wield the Suomi SMG firing at where he wanted to go in order to create snow patches for skiing, he quickly evades the enemy detection and if there is anyone who managed to detect him, he'll fire at them without hesitation. Always one step ahead of his enemy, he already calculated the distances between the artilleries and the refuge the moment the volley was fired. He's only needed to make it there as soon as he can so that the plan can proceed to its next step.

"If only the terrain weren't so uphill and rough, I would have been there by now." The Finnish said under his lips.

Moving through the jungle with only a snowy path formed from his SMG, switching constantly between skiing and guerilla combat. He started to notice that there is a lot more activity in the direction he is going. He knew the artilleries' position has to be there if there are so many patrols in this path alone.

"Unfoundable my ass with that, but again, artilleries and subtle never goes along." The Finn said under his lips again.

He decided to remove his cover and burst into the path that leads to the artilleries position, the Wehrmacht 'soldiers' who were taken by surprise got shot down before they managed to fire back at the Finn. Azure ashes fly through the air, the Finn still stays vigilant as he has already known about the fact that those 'soldiers' dissipate to ashes upon death. Focus all of his senses, he tries to pick up any movements he can feel from the ground.

Except for the fact that the ground started to shake with greater intensity with each second pass. The next moment, the Finn leaped back from what would have turned him into splatter on the ground. He looks at the humanoid monsters wearing a soldier helmet which has just smashed where he stood before with such a power that where he is standing now is also cracked.

That beast roared when it sees him, he quickly evades the next strike as it leaps toward him again while firing his Suomi at it. The beast is definitely being injured from his SMG but it doesn't show itself being in pain. In fact, the beast started to getting more enraged as he continuously fires his weapon at it. The beast consumed by madness tried to swing its monstrous arms at him to kill him. He countered this by keeping his distance away from it and evading its smash whenever he can. The fight stretches on, wasting every valuable second he has.

"Tsk, I can't keep wasting my time with this mad gorilla, I need to take it down right now!." The Finn said in his mind.

The beast now is fed with so many bullets it just holey like Swiss cheese but it won't slow down in the slightest, the thing wants whatever it is fighting to be dead right now. When the beast sensed him again, it leaped at him to smash him again. Instead of sidestepping, he decided to charge toward it while firing his Suomi right to the center of its chest, it roared loudly to the point it would burst the air-drum of a normal person. When it leaped toward him, he slides beneath it. When that monster finally landed, he has already gotten back to his feet but not standing yet.

In the midst of its confusion, he threw a bottle, a bottle with a rag that was set aflame at it. It was a Molotov Cocktail, the moment it impacts on the beast, it set the beast aflame. Roaring in the burning pain, it panically swung its fist anywhere it sees.

"The Molotov is just a C+ rank Noble Phantasm, dispensable is the only thing it worth for but at least it does its job well." The Finn thinks.

Knowing the beast isn't dead yet when he sees it. Suddenly, he saw a gaping hole in its chest showing its beating heart that was created from his previous attack but that is also the moment it sees him. The fiery beast roared again as it charges toward him with all of its might, it was an image of a hellspawn but to him, there is something far more hellish than it to him that he has faced and he has already taken it out. He only sees this as an obstacle, no more no less and that gaping hole will be where he uses his finishing move to take down these pathetic excuses of an existence.

A large gun started to materialize in his hand, a really large gun that will fit to take down this monstrosity, the only reason he hadn't use it in the first place because it would slow him down and getting him killed before he took it down. And when it has leaped toward him, the fiery monstrosity revealed its weak-point for all to see and that is when he one-handed the large caliber weapon in his other arm at it. He pulled the trigger and...

BANG! An extremely loud gunshot went out, he'll be surprised if no one managed to hear it. He has been knocked back a considerable distance from the sheer recoil of the gun from where he was before but that is trivial compared to the target who was in the receiving end of his gun, the Lahti L-39. That monster has been knocked back away by a larger distance compared to him and an extremely large hole replaced its entire torso. There is no surviving with that shot, the monster started to combust in an azure flame which soon engulfs the flame of his Molotov. Azure ashes fly from the burning corpse of the monster.

"A tenacious flame, like its resilience. While I appreciated a sort level of resilience, this kind of thing like this needs to die." The Finn said under his lips.

Now it is just him who is standing, after taking down this beast, the defending soldiers have come to take out whatever threat they perceived. Most likely the noise the fight has made.

"Hmph, guess I shouldn't be surprised. Compare to this monster, all of you would just be child-play." The Finn said after he dematerialized his Lahti away.

And the firefight continues.

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**_Everlasting Persistence_**

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* * *

**Back at the frontline**

"It is clear that Archer deep inside that forest is trying to kill us," Shirou said after he deflected the bullet which was clearly aimed at him for who knows how many times.

"And these goddamn beasts doesn't make it any easier!" Kuro followed up after she beheaded another beast with her pair of Kanshou and Byakuya.

When the 1st Class joined the fray, the beasts started to appear along with the Assault Rifle equipped soldiers, not only it creates the situation have to strike two different targets with one slash, but these two targets were also completely different. The 1st Class is evasive and unless caught under heavy fire or unavoidable attack, they will most likely dodge them all. The Beasts are tough and can take many punishments before fallen.

Another gunshot blasted the head of a 1st Class, it was from Kiritsugu's Origin Contender.

"Bastard... Just how many of those things are here, not even Camelot or Babylon was this ridiculous." Kiritsugu said after he killed another beast after he reloaded his Contender again.

**Back at the machine gun bunkers in the fort.**

The machine gun bunkers still fire at the oncoming enemy, but most of the operators can't fire properly or hide beneath and just spray and pray or got blown apart from unlucky gunshot and have to be replaced. You can't blame them though, they were humans who were thrown in the war between the supernaturals. Even if you gave them the means to fight, you can't expect them to just take it to fight like normal warfare. But there is one person who is doing his duty to utmost efficiency, and that person is Arnold.

Holding the trigger of the MG5 that was set up for the defensive purpose, a 120-round box connected to the gun. This is what the Assassin come up with and he'll do it with all of his best. Decisive, efficient, every single bullet strike its target, he focuses entirely on his enemies. Perhaps because he is a Heroic Spirit, he is able to combat in far greater power compared to normal humans. Taking the old Archer's advice, he put with all of his soul into it in order to reawaken his old memories, even if it isn't the best way to do so.

Every soldier he takes down, he felt that he is breaking through the sealed door of his memory. Azure ashes fly through the air as he continues to fire relentlessly. The shout of command let out by the foxholes' soldiers, the sound of eternal firing of his machine gun, the drizzling rain that never stops, even the scream of agony, fear heard let out by his allies, the thuds of lifeless corpses soon dissipate into ashes.

Every second passed, his enemies are still plentiful as they charging in mindlessly like a mad man. He started to ponder how many bullets have he fired, and when he too caught up in his own fight, he unknowingly said the words of his own memory.

_"Smell the fear and feeling of dread  
__Rapid fire to end them all..."_

A memory flashes, he sees himself, firing what looks like an old model machine gun at the oncoming enemies, but it isn't the abomination he facing right now, they were... humans. He heard their screams, their cry of anguish, he felt them all. He stationed with his machine gun and he is using the corpses to build a makeshift foxhole to fight back.

A sound of a large explosion snapped him back to reality, it was at the distant mountains in front of him.

"Good, I'll tell my Master and his allies that we can now proceed to the next step of your plan." The old Archer said behind him.

"Good to know, there are way too many enemies on the battleground right now and we need to take the plan to its next step. Step 3! Rain fire!" Gudao commanded

"Haha, I'll show them the judgments of the heaven after all..." The old Archer said.

**Back at the foxholes.**

"They weren't lying when these blades won't break at all." "How much ammo did we expense already?" "Right flank! 1st Class! All MGs! Focus fire!" "I swear that I'll swim in casings before we even reach midnight if we still know what time it is!"

It was pure chaos, they already lost their kill count long ago and they have already lost their perception of time, azure ashes fly everywhere. "Azure Soldier" is what they decided to call those things due to the fact that they turn into azure ashes upon death. If they were killed in the close proximity, Pierce and his squad will loot their ammo before they dissipate to ashes like their dead carriers and they have to say that the Azure Soldiers' ammo surprisingly fit their weapons despite having different caliber.

Their weapons' ammo reserve in actuality has an extremely deceptive capacity due to the fact that they ran on mana instead of the usual casing which probably explains why they can just insert different calibers ammo and it would still work. They don't know why it still ejects casing though.

"Pierce! I think I saw-" Before he said his words completely, he got headshoted. If it weren't for the armor he wore, there wouldn't be a head left and instead, he just got knocked to the ground.

"Punisher! Are you alright?" Pierce frantically trying to check up on him.

"I'm... alright. Pierce! Snipers... inbound!" The soldier said while being dizzy yet still lucid enough.

Pierce quickly telepathically speaking to his Servant in order to tell him to find a way to deal with the Snipers as soon as he can.

"Hmph, understood. Gudao! Tell your Servants that we being aimed at by Snipers." The old Archer transferred his words to Gudao after he heard what Pierce has to say.

"Don't worry, they are in the frontline and most likely being attacked by Snipers too, I trusted that they will deal with them soon enough when they realized their targets," Gudao said.

**Back at the frontline**

Shirou and Kuro have used their bows more frequently compared to the beginning, mainly using Hrunting, one of Beowulf's magical swords, in order to take out both of the beasts and 1st Class effectively thanks to its ability to pursue its user's target. Kiritsugu has already fired completely his tenth Calico magazine and reloading the eleventh. He got shot many times but Iri used her healing power in order to restore him back to normal or at least not in too bad condition for combat.

"Hrunting..." Shirou said the true name of the weapon before reinforcing it and charge it up.

The blade changed its form into a pitch-black arrow with a few edges around its thin core, spiraling around it and somewhat curving forward. Red sparks started to spark around the tip of the arrow and soon Emiya releases the arrow.

The arrow turned into a red magical bullet as soon as Emiya released it as it moves with an unimaginable speed as it pierces a line of enemies unstopped. It would have moved faster if he spends more time to charge but right now he doesn't have that luxury thanks to a certain someone deep inside the forest that even outrange his Hawkeye and because of that, he put his Mind's Eye on all the time, he can't afford to go inside the forest and abandon the frontline alone to its own.

Another bullet deflected with his Kanshou when he projected it immediately but he realized something is wrong. The bullet he deflected isn't having much force unlike before where it would strike like a bombing raid, Shirou quickly uses his Hawkeye again back at the direction of the forest and he started to notice that there are 50 Snipers inside the forest and located in separate locations. Even worse that they are aiming at his sister who was busy aiming her Hrunting at another beast. He doesn't have enough time to aim at them all or will his sister notice them until it is too late.

"Kuro!" Emiya screamed as he made a mad dash toward her

"Onii-chan?" Kuro confused at why he is dashing toward her.

In that very moment, a second stretched to infinity as even a grain of time is beyond precious to him, this is a do or die situation and he can't afford it to happen. After losing Chaldea, any Chaldean Servants' death is permanent and those memories can't be recovered and he dreaded that very thing the most. He doesn't want to lose anything anymore, especially his family. He dashes with all of the might he could muster as if he thinks that he has to make his shadow eats his own dust to save her.

In split second, he managed to grab her arm and took her out of the harm's way. But, it was bold of him to believe that was the last to worry. The SS Archer was an opportunist and at that moment, a sharp pain ran through from Shirou's waist toward every fiber of his being. He was shot at the waist and the Archer falls face flat on the ground, Kuro gets up as soon as she can and quickly assess the situation and act accordingly.

"Trace on!" Kuro said as she deflects more bullet, many blades appeared behind her and quickly impaled themselves to the ground which acts as a parameter to protect her brother. This is a battlefield, not one on one combat. Shirou tried to gather himself up despite the agonizing pain that spread throughout his body.

"Mother! Father! Onii-chan got injured! Please help him!" Kuro cried.

The moment her words reached their ears. Both Kiritsugu and Iri's parental instinct flares up into an inferno that would burn with such intensity that not even ashes remain. They ran towards the siblings with an inhuman speed even for Servants' standard to save their children.

"Don't worry, I'll patch him up as fast as I can!" The mother said when she uses her healing power to quickly fix up her son's wound.

Both Kuro and Kiritsugu quickly gather their vigilance and try their best to protect them with all they had. Kuro deflects any gunshot that was fired at them, especially that Archer's attack which wounded her brother. Kiritsugu fired the Calico with one hand while the other fire the Contender, he can deflect attack but he much prefers attacking than deflecting hails of bullets with his knife.

"Jii-san..." Shirou whispered.

Kuro was too focused on deflecting attacks right now and thus she didn't hear it but Kiri decided he should at least lend an ear for him.

"Jii-san... There are Snipers, please take them out in my stead... They are focus firing on Servants." Shirou said weakly, the shot was probably near fatal.

Immediately after Shirou said it. Kiritsugu realized what he has to do. But how would he do it? He doesn't have any Clairvoyance skill in order to partake in long-ranged combat. But a spark in his mind gives him a hint and he decided that he would try it to see if it works or not. Kiritsugu whips out a peculiar sniper rifle. A WA2000 to be exact, a sniper rifle that was made with precision and accuracy put at top priorities and thus very rare. He has personally modified it in order to detect magus back when he was alive and perhaps it might work against them.

Looking through his modified heat detection scope, he sees many small azure blots that spread throughout the forest through the scope. It is small but it has proven that it is indeed worked.

"Hmph, guess those things won't believe what hit them," Kiritsugu smirked.

_**Time alter - square accel**_

**Back at the fort**

Pierce and his squad have emptied so many bullets that they started to think the Assassin's estimation was completely off the mark. The endless firing of their weapons, they already got so used to it, they felt they would sick after all of this is over. The tension keeps rising, the air is stiff. They felt like there is no end to this fight. Pierce with his eye looks through the scope already full of bloodshot from all of the tension

Suddenly, a can fall on top of him, Pierce broke out of his focus and he looks back at his Servant.

"Master! Use the smoke grenade that I have given to you right now!" Pierce heard what his Servant is shouting at him.

Within the heat of moments, Pierce quickly grabbed the cylinder can he got on and throw it as far as he humanly can towards where he believes would have most enemies. When the can hit on the ground, a pillar of red smoke started to rise from where it landed.

"Firing the mortars at the smoke pillar, now!" His Servant shouted back at the rag-tag mortar teams.

Since the threat of Artilleries was eliminated, the mortars can fire without fear of being countered. Each one of them loaded the shells into the mortars as they adjust the firing coordinate.

"Fire!" a shout was heard, a mortar has fired its shell. The flaming shell flies above the defense line as it comes for the designated area that Pierce has marked with his smoke grenade. As soon as the shell impacts on the ground, a pillar flame replaced where the smoke was. The azure soldiers that charging through it ended up set ablaze and eventually burned until they became charred lifeless corpses and the rest is already known.

"You see the power of my self-designed incendiary shells, did you? Because tonight, we will scorch this earth into hell." Pierce heard what his Servant said telepathically

Back at the frontline, the Emiya family are still fighting bitterly with everything they have, if it weren't for the corpses turning into ashes, they would have stacked them all into mountains.

"It seems like you started to think smarter about the use of Chronomaturgy after all, you use it on rifle bullets instead of applying to yourself," Iri said to her husband

"After receiving that Memorial Essence, I punched myself for not thinking about that way of using Time alter but that is in the past and now I have the knowledge to use it to the best of its ability," Kiri said with an exhaust tone due to the fact that he has to apply each bullet individually.

"Well, it is better than you rip yourself apart from time dislocation re-correction," Emiya said while he is deflecting attacks after he managed to get back on his feet.

"Everyone? Our Master said we should retreat right now!" Kuro said after she received her Master's telepathic warning.

The Emiya family's member now looking at each other, if their Master has told them to retreat then their Master must be having a very good reason to do so. Quickly on their feet, Shirou projects blade to take out the trashes while running toward the defense line, his sister returns fires with Hrunting in order to sweep out the beasts that still trying to pursue them. Iri still held on tight to Kiritsugu as he runs back at the defense line

Suddenly, Irisviel felt a horrible premonition, she doesn't know what is going to happen but her mind is screaming at her in danger.

"Shirou! Do you see anything dangerous?" Iri asked her son.

Shirou quickly uses Hawkeye again after his mother asked him. But that action has become his saving grace as he started to notice a large caliber bullet that moves with extremely fast speed and shredding the wind around it. To make the matter worse, it was moving toward him.

Shirou sidestepped and managed to evade it in a split second. Blocking that attack is near impossible without using Rho Aias and doing so is basically revealing his trump card. That round burrowed into the ground and raze the earth around it. It is clear that there is no survival if anyone got struck by that thing.

"Thanks for telling me, Okaa-san!" Shirou thanks his mom.

"Did that Archer used his Noble Phantasm? To be fair, that is actually disappointing that it is really weak compared to other heroes but it probably a disposable one." Kuro said.

"Be careful! We can't guarantee that Archer won't use his Noble Phantasm again!" Kiritsugu told his son.

They are getting closer to the defense line, but that Archer still firing those whirling hurricanes as it razes the ground as it went nearby pass them. When they getting closes to the foxholes and leaped to the top of the defense line. Pierce and his squad ceased fire for a moment in order to make way for the Chaldean Servants.

"They are retreating? Those attacks must have been very dangerous..." Pierce thought"

"By the way, I recommend you to stay there a little bit for now and not taking a peek no matter what," Kiritsugu said to Pierce as he evades another whirling shot towards him. Thankfully, no one was near him for that moment.

Heeding his words, Pierce commanded his squad to not peek no matter what. Pierce's attention suddenly turned back at the defense line as he's looking at his Servant. The old man stands proudly as he begins his speech.

_"Brave fighters of this last stand, this will be our answers to the evil of the Nazi regimes...  
__Tonight, we'll show the valiant hearts of the prisoners of our own fate  
We have shed blood for our own freedom, for our last chance for peace..._

Another razing shot was fired and it was aimed at the old Archer but that isn't going to stop him, because a certain someone has decided to withhold his card for this very exact moment.

_**RHO AIAS!**_

The seven-petal barrier which blocks any thrown attack, blocking the destructive bullet in its path without even got one petal broken. Emiya has already recognized that bullet and gotten tired of seeing such a thing like that. The worst kind of Noble Phantasm isn't the most destructive one but the one that can be spam many times in the row.

_We have given our lives, souls, wills to realize the dream of escaping this hellish nightmare  
As soldiers, bounded by our will to fight together to make it to our tomorrow  
We'll crawl through mud and blood to reach for that dream, the victory against this very evil we face  
Not for honor or glory, not even for fame or medals  
But this will be our very fight for what is right_

Another shot, another one, tried as he might but he can't even scratch the first petal let alone broke one, that very speech was a symbol of defiance and the SS Archer felt he couldn't let it go on but how much ones might have against the mystic Noble Phantasm dated back at the Trojan War. Shirou still giving his determined glare back at his assailant.

_Torn from the arms of beloved ones, friends, families, we ended up here in this hell  
Here we languished with no hope to escape, living with the horrors of death and injustices  
We might be beaten, we might be slaughtered, but we will not be broken...  
Tonight, all of you abominations will hear our messages against your corrupted and arrogant leader  
Tonight, all of you who bows to evil...  
WILL BURN IN THIS DEPTHS OF HELL!"_

And the very next moment, the fearsome cries and a rain of fire come burst through the sky, the rain can't extinguish the flame of valiance that will soon set the horizon ablaze. All of those flaming shots race with each other one to see which will fulfill their duty first. Soon all of them slammed onto the battleground as they created a wall of infernal flame stretching across the refuge, the blazing wall will withstand until daybreak and the smoke pillars that stretch toward heaven will prevent any long-ranged warfare. It is just the cleaning up remain.

"Thank god! We finally going to get some breather." "I'm exhausted, never in my life have I went through such a large scale siege like this." "This isn't over, isn't it? There is no way it would end now, isn't it?"

"Guess we can finally let out a breath of relief, isn't it? All units, clear up any remaining enemy. The enemy wanted us dead and they won't stop with this feeble amount of soldiers." Pierce command his squad.

Of course, this is still only the beginning of the longest night.

_The rose that blooms beautifully in the lunar light, shall wither upon daybreak._

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Flame-scarred Sin**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Inside the forest after the blazing barrage that clouded entire refuge**

"Those refugees that you put your utmost to protect sure put up a good fight, isn't it? My old friend..." The SS Archer said.

If it weren't for the sound of the raging infernal wall, it would have been dead silence. But the SS Archer knows for sure of who he is talking about and he intended to call him out.

"Don't play silence with me you know. You think I wouldn't notice the patches of snow you left over?" The SS Archer said.

After what he said, the Finnish steps out of the shadow, carrying a wave of anger that is clearly felt from him even if it not shown in his face.

"It is good to see you, my old friend. Did you enjoy playing protector for those drifters?" The SS Archer sarcastically said to the Finn.

If 'the Finn's' anger can be described as a flame then the SS Archer has just made it more intense. His expression became more furrow as he listens to what his 'friend' got to say.

"Haha, I see what you are trying to say here... You saying that why in the flying fuck am I here? Right?" The SS Archer read what the Finn is thinking.

Every word that the SS Archer said so far only irritates the Finn much further as if the Archer intentionally picking his words carefully just to spite the Finn even more.

"Remember when you still in the SS Waffen, my bud? In the campaign for our reinvasion of Soviets. Your intense thirst for communists' blood was so much that you make the rest of your supposed to lead team and me eating your dust while you make large-scale bloodbaths in every town you find." At this point the SS Archer intentionally trying to add fuel for 'the Finn's' flame of wrath.

"What are you trying to do here?" The Finn's rage started to seep into 'the Finn's' word.

"Remember when you push the Russian civilians into a tight shed and there you barricade the door to prevent them from escaping. What you did next is that you scorch the shed aflame while you laughing ecstatically when you listen to their screams in anguish and terror." The SS Archer said of what he has seen that day while still held that shit-eating grin of his.

The Finn's flame of anger can't be called a fire anymore but more of a large-scale conflagration.

"Why do you know about this..." The Finnish's said with an angry tone but not being loud.

"You already forgot that I was the SS Waffen's most powerful designate marksman? Shame on you, buddy. Even if I were gonna eat your dust, I'm still going to see what you were doing. Like how you waltz into the Moscow killing the Red Army personnel by ripping their heads by their jaw, one by one. That time you lining them up to prepare to butcher them with slaughterhouse's equipment?" The SS Archer still held that shit-eating grin of his.

Now 'the Finn's' anger becomes an inferno as it started to reach his limit of temperance. His anger started to become more visible in his expression.

"And should I add that moment when you also rip out the fetus of a pregnant woman and rip that fetus's head and kick it with a power that breaks the sound barrier and completely blown torso of a father who is running in terror from you? There are a lot more horrible shits you did and as much of a friend I am. That is still going to be a yike from me, bud." The SS Archer finally stopped grinning and his expression started to become serious.

The Finn's anger started to reach the point that it would turn metal white-hot. His anger has become obvious. If looks could kill, the SS Archer would be dead by now.

"To top it off. You decided to use the top-secret WMDs without the Furher's permission to go complete extinction on Russia. If what the Furher did to the Jew is called a bloodbath then what you did is a Holocaust, you genocide an entire nation just because you were salty about your house being taken away. You should be glad that the Furher overlooked the entire thing and not execute you for doing so." The SS Archer this time is calling out on his friend's bullshit.

Unable to hold his anger any further. What the SS Archer said was unforgivable to him. He materializes his bayoneted Mosin Nagant to quickly silence him as he dashes with a speed that makes him nothing more than a hazy image. Unfortunately for the Finn, the SS Archer has also quickly materialized his bayoneted Kar98k to block his friend's attacks. He deflects 'the Finn's' attacks with ease as he drives away the bayoneted rifle of the Finn.

"You committed treason against your homeland just to fulfill that burning hatred of yours. Dishonor them right after they gave you the Mannerheim Cross." The SS Archer calls out on the Finn for being irrational to the point that he commits genocides in the name of his hatred.

"SHUT UP!" The Finn shouted angrily at The SS Archer as he continues to slash at the Archer.

Sparks fly from each clash of the bayonets, even if they weren't Knights of Middle Age' level of close combat power, it is still beyond the realm of men. Lashing each other with their rifles, they don't even bother to fire the gun. Both of them move with an unreal speed as they continue to clash with each other. The Finn seems to be in the hapless as his attacks were easily deflected, the Finn started to whip out his Suomi and fire it toward at the Archer that he wanted to get him out of his face as soon as possible. The Archer did the same by using his MP40 and fire it back at him.

Sparks burst as each of their bullets clashes with each other as it deflects each of them from harming their users. It was almost uncontested as both of them still held their triggers until the Finn leaped sideways to flank his opponent. The SS Archer realized what the Finn intended to do in the last few seconds and he jumped back in order to avoid being slashed.

The Finn is obviously being controlled by his rage more than his own mind is. The SS Archer still held his stances while aiming his MP40 at his opponent.

"I know how you work, my man. That Finnish side of your is only useful for traversing areas and escape routes securement. If you want to kill me then show me the man I know. The ruthless monster that Stalin has placed a massive bounty on!" The SS Archer said as if he is willing to unleash the monster within the madman.

The Finn doesn't care anymore, he wanted the SS Archer dead and he'll do it no matter what. White dust flows out of the Finnish's white-cloak as it turns into the SS Waffen's officer uniform. Only madness is in his eyes and he'll stop at nothing but turning the SS Archer into a gory mess.

"Tsk, I'm just about to get bored anyway. Showtime!" The SS Archer said as he prepares for the fight of his lifetime.

_Your intention won't excuse the bloodbath you made..._

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Rose at Midnight**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Back at the fort.**

"Everyone! Step 4! Unleash the Horde" Gudao commanded the ragtag band of soldiers which consists of 70-80 man who each all of them wore hastily made armor and armed with muskets and dynamites.

Their armor which if you look at it, calling it armor is a long stretch as it only consists of a dense metal mask that has a small peek for eyes and their body armor is just two sheets of thick steel banded with each other with rope to look like armor. Compare it to Pierce's squad' armors, it is like comparing a wrecked car to a factory new tank. Even so, it managed to reduce enough damage so that the wearer doesn't die from shock or the sheer power of the enemy's bullet, it doesn't save you from being knocked away from the sheer bullet impact when hit, though.

Shirou and Kiritsugu have built more of their 'exclusive' blades and built multiples covers so that all militia will be able to take cover and fire back. Which is now where the frontline is taken place.

"Target Acquired!" Before a militia takes down a "1st Class" with his musket.

It still doesn't completely save the militia squad from casualty though.

"Medic! My hand!" A militia said as his hand is blown from his arm during the crossfire. But despite under heavy fire, the man's savior has come. The US soldier wearing his satchel that has a red cross printed on it. He quickly checks the man's arm and his severed hand, he quickly grabs his anti-biotic and painkiller...

"I hope you will be able to withstand this." The US said as he injects the man with the painkiller and pours anti-biotic over the arm, and then he proceeds to sew with a speed that is hard to perceive by humans' eye the hand back to the arm. Afterward, he bandaged them together and said.

"I'm going to bring you out soon since you can't use your arm anymore in the time being, the reason I'm binding your hand back in the first place so that it would at least become operable in the future, but now? You gotta get out of here and stay alive." The US Soldier said.

"But I have to fight-" The soldier replied before he got cut off again.

"No! You fight to live another day, not fight to your death! That is what every soldier I know fought for and do you know how many of my friends die when they wanted to just wrap their entire war up?! I stepped into a hell where you would walk three steps then die to save any soul that stuck there. Don't die for others! Live for them! You understand?" The US said.

Only silence from him is left, the US proceeds to carry him out. Running with a fast speed that easily overtakes the bullet train as he leaped over the fort. His destination right now is the ridge itself. He set the man out in the stretcher and he quickly binds rope at each of the stretcher's ends. He slowly let the man down to the bottom of the ridge with the said stretcher. After that man got out of the stretcher, the US soldier quickly pull it back up and return to where the fight is taken place. He heard the yells and screams of the fight as it urges him to do his best, even when he can't hold a weapon in his hand.

**Back at the frontline**

"Reloading!" A militia said as he quickly loading his gun.

"Dynamite!" Another militia said as he ignited his dynamite and thrown it as far as he humanly can.

The fight has gone on for how long who knows. But at least, the battlefield started to clear up and the amount of roaming Azure soldiers has been pushed down greatly thanks to the wall of infernal flame that was erected by the barrage of incendiary shells which prevents further personnel invasion.

Finally, the last Azure soldier fell as a sniper round cleanly burst through its head. Its lifeless body fell on the ground and soon all is lefts is the azure ashes from the last corpses.

"Is it over? We... We won!... We actually made it." A militia exclaimed as he finally is able to stop fighting.

Every of the militia celebrated in happiness, tears shed because they were so emotional that they can't put it all into happiness. But it was a short-lived victory as Emiya quickly tell everyone to hide in their cover.

"Everyone! HIDE!" Emiya screamed as he started to notice what was wrong.

A shell moving so fast it breaks the sound barrier, Pierce's squad felt something is actually wrong by themselves and their bodies have instinctively run for their safety even before it managed to be fire, but the same can't be told for the 2 militias who were in its way.

"BOOM!" A deafening explosion replaced where the two militias stood, there was nobody left for it was too powerful for even human's recognition.

"Shit! Everyone! Get back to your position!" A militia said as he dives for the cover.

From deep inside that infernal wall, they can see a silhouette. Wait, no. There were many shadowy figures deep inside the flame but there is no mistaking those large mechanical monstrosities. They were Panzersoldats and they came to eradicate the last of Polish.

"Expressor! You know what to do!" Pierce said to one of his squadmates who he designated that nickname.

"Got it! " The soldier said as he grabbed his rifle grenades and prepared to load his Grandeur Express.

Those large mechs walk out of the flame, unhindered by the wall of infernal flame. They aimed both of their cannons and machine guns in order to cause as much destruction as they can.

The machine guns from those Panzers were let loose as they suppressing anything from daring to peek up, it clears that the militia got their hands tied as there is no way in hell would they manage to retaliate without getting killed by the machine guns' fire.

"Caladbolg!" Both Shirou and Kuro chanted one same word as they let their arrow flies. The two arrows broke the sound barrier simultaneously as they twist the space around them. It is just not the air but the conceptual 'space' around it being twisted. The first arrow impacts on a Panzer blowing it apart, slinging its broken pieces everywhere, the second arrow did the same. The Panzers' attention changed to the siblings who were running around, aiming with their bow with unusual arrows loaded. They see the siblings as a more dangerous threat than the entire fortress and its defender.

The siblings have drawn the Panzers' aggro. The mechs now focus fire on the siblings because they have taken out 2 Panzers right in front of the others. No longer under fire, the militias pick their moments to throw out any dynamites they have in their possession since their muskets and rifle will do little to no damage. The explosions from the enchanted dynamites dealt visible damage to the leg of the nearby Panzers.

"Take this!" A militia screamed at the top of his throat as he flings his stick of dynamite at a Panzer.

The dynamite exploded as it blew up the leg of a Panzer, making it fall face flat to the ground. Shirou leaped and aim his bow at the crippled Panzer.

"Caladbolg!" Shirou chanted as he let his altered Caladbolg arrow fly.

The arrow flies with a speed that cut the distances between him and the crippled Panzer almost instantly. An explosion shook the ground as it blew Panzer apart. Soon, the wrecked parts of the Panzer dissipate into ashes.

The speed of the Archer duos let them evade the barrage of machine guns fire and tank shells while the Panzers still attempt to fire at them with their machine guns. Those things don't care if the fort's defenders are damaging them bit by bit.

The battle raging on but Shirou heard something, it sounds like engine of something but it is distinct enough to not sound like the Panzers'. Felt something is wrong, Shirou telepathically communicated with his Master.

"Master, I think we have some uninvited guests coming here," Shirou reports his Master.

"Then you know what to do," Gudao replied.

After receiving his Master's word. Gudao told his sister that the enemy's air forces will be inbound. And that moment, they will have to fight both the fighters and Panzers.

"No need for that, my friends! Leave those hunks of junk for me!" A voice was heard on the battlefield, it was from the old Archer.

Suddenly, a Panzer blew up and everything halts for a moment. Back at the fort, the old Archer is standing next to a cannon that has smoke went up from its bore.

"And this isn't a one-shot pony!" The old Archer laughed.

The cannon fired again, this time the Panzers evaded it. The thing was enchanted and run on mana, it is obvious that it is capable of being operated by one man and having enough power to penetrate the Panzer's armor

Realizing the potential threat, they turn around and aim at the fort but the next moment, a Panzer got blew up.

"Forget about me already?" Kuro smirked at those Panzers.

Now that they realized they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. The Panzers started to fire whatever they had anywhere. Bullets and shells fly everywhere. The smell of burnt gunpowder fills the air. Thankfully that they still consider the Servants as a much more dangerous threat than cannons and the militia combined or otherwise the cannon crews can't fire at them.

The roaring engines of the aviating machines keep getting louder over time, signaling their approach. The Panzers aren't still dealt with yet they already have more enemies joining the fray in a "soon to be" more chaotic battle.

"Master! The fighters are coming!" Shirou warned his Master.

"Then you already know what to do, Step 5! Skewer the winged beasts!" Gudao said.

The loud engine of planes become more and more loud with each second pass, warning of its imminent oncoming. Under the drizzling rain that went on eternally, the squadrons of who knows how much penetrate through the smoke pillars as they prepare to rain death upon the mortal below. But no one underneath them will accept to die from them.

Emiya traced a weapon out of his hand, he soon reinforces and alters it to fit what he needs to do. Why did Shirou trace that one weapon specifically? There is only one reason for that, the weapon he traced is the Nameless Dagger that belongs to Medusa which is more of a "nail" than "dagger". It has the power to restrain and immobilize any targets it managed to strike. A bonus is that it will not release from its target as long as its user still wants it to do so.

The arrow lights up with blue tint from the mana Shirou charged, his eyes turned silver as he can see everything in perfect detail in the sky, the reflecting raindrops, the fighters unleashing its barrage, even the mana-charged bullets that are raining down upon and the flare that shines like a moon in dark night.

His determinating gaze pierces through everything as he let the altered dagger flies through the air. The arrow became a crimson bullet that moves with a speed that breaks the sound barrier instantaneously from the moment it is fired. Not even in a split second, it has claimed its first blood. A fighter got pierced and immobilized, Shirou took his chance and grabbed the chain.

Being a modern Servant ain't help that he only got D for Strength but that has never stopped him from achieving his goal before. Gather all of his strength, he whipped the fighter jet down straight to the ground. If Heracles was here, he could have used this pierced fighter as his personal wrecking ball but again, 'beggar can't be chooser'.

The fighter crashed into the ground, he could have just used Hrunting to get the job done faster than doing this but he has a good reason to do so. Shirou dashed to the crash site and use his Hawkeye to analyze what he can still use.

"An enchanted Fw 190, the MG131 machine guns were destroyed upon impact, the MG151/20 is still intact and can be used as cover autocannon." Shirou thinks when he analyzes the crashed fighter.

His Servant strength easily ripped through the crashed fighter and revealed the autocannon still intact. he takes the entire thing and retreats back to the fort while holding the autocannon in his arm.

"Fire in the hole!" A soldier in Pierce's squad said as he fired his rifle grenade.

The rifle grenade impacts on the Panzer and destroyed its main cannon. Shirou decided to ignore because he'll need a certain someone who could turn this scrap into a weapon that could penetrate the Panzer without relying on dwindling explosives supply. This is a part in step 5, the Panzers are most likely to be destroyed to the point there isn't anything that could be salvaged so they will resort to taking down the fighters. It was basically, take down the fighter with the least amount of damage done to the fighter so that they can salvage the weapon.

And what he just did is the least damage he can do, Hrunting will most likely twist the entire fighter, thus making the whole thing unsalvagable and Caladbolg will vaporize it. He jumped on top and enter the fort through its back entrance.

"Archer! Can you give this thing a pistol grip so that the militia can have a fighting chance?" Shirou said.

"Good, I didn't wish for them to fight, but fate has said otherwise. If this can help them to fight back then I'll do what I can." The old archer said.

The sounds of scream and pain echo in the frontline, the old Archer's gut wrenched for every moment he has to hear it. Sweats form on his forehead as he tried to turn the thing into a weapon with the least amount of time spent. Within a few seconds, he managed to turn it into a stationary deployable autocannon.

"Quick! Bring it to the front, they will need it!" The old Archer said to Shirou.

"Got it!" Shirou said as he brings out the autocannon which is now trigger fired and having a tripod mount.

Lifting the autocannon easily in his hand. He dashed through a machine guns bunker's window to cut down his time to return to the frontline. The next moment he got out, the Panzers started aiming at him in the next instance.

"So they focus firing on Servants like many others. They sure have a screwed up priority to the point they would ignore things that aren't Servants but still capable of harming them." Emiya thought as he quickly threw the autocannon in the other direction.

By the other direction, he means Pierce, the only person who is most likely to know how to operate a weapon like this.

"We being slaughtered right here!" A militia screams as he can't handle the escalating chaos and the rising casualty. No one can blame him since this is a war between the supernaturals.

"Take this!" Emiya threw the autocannon as carefully as he can since he doesn't want to destroy it by accident.

The autocannon landed near Pierce, struck deep into the ground but thankfully, it is still in one piece. Pierce noticed the gun and tried to pick the thing up. Shirou is a Servant, thus he can lift anything with ease. Pierce, however, is a human and thus struggling to just lift it up from the ground. The armor he wore is his only lifesaver and it has already taken most of his carrying weight. But thankfully, if one can't do it then two can.

"Pierce! I'll give you a hand." A soldier in Pierce's squad has come to his aid.

Ignoring the machine guns' bullet literally clashing on their armor and cover like a tempest against a rooftop, the knockback from impacts should have knocked them back to the fort and continuously eating bullets as they got pinned to the fort's wall. They stood their ground and set up the autocannon.

"Look out!" His soldier said to him as a fighter approach.

_**Time alter - square accel**_

The next moment, the fighter was blown to smithereens. Pierce instinctively gazed back at the Assassin that is holding his Stinger Anti-air launcher.

"Focus on what you need to do, this fight isn't going to end anytime soon." The assassin said before he heads back toward the front again.

Pierce still seeing more and more of those Panzers are still coming, the fighters ain't making any of this easier. Together with his squadmate, he managed to set up the autocannon and he decided to test-fire the weapon. Holding the grips with his hands, he aimed the cannon toward the oncoming Panzers, seeing the little Archer who is holding the same gun and running toward the fort, he decided to give her fire support with the cannon.

Pierce let out a heavy sigh before he truly fires the gun. In his next moment, he holds the trigger, let out the stream of empowered lead against the Panzer, it isn't as powerful as the cannons that are firing from the fort but it has enough power to break through the Panzers' armor. He aimed at them with his autocannon and focus on destroying their armaments to render them harmless. The sounds of the high-caliber bullet clashing echos clearly through the battlefield despite the Servants are causing much more destruction than how he ever could in any possible ways.

Kuro dashed by him and it was just in a moment but he swore that he heard that she said.

_"Thank you"_

Now is not the time to think about what she just said, he focused back at the raging front, some unfortunate militias were shot by tank shells and died without a single trace remains, some received horrible injuries that would have sickened even the most hardened soldiers. Thankfully, the US soldier is dashing around in the front, giving first aid, fixing injuries and evacuating them from the chaos. If it weren't for him, a single injury would have been as good as dead.

"How many are still standing?" Pierce asked his nearby squadmate who is loading their rifle grenade.

"We have 200 able-man who can fight in the beginning, including 85 frontline militias which joined combat recently. By this point, the US has reported the casualty of 58 dead, 105 injured so far. 86 injured were evacuated by the Ruler, fortunately." His squadmate responded.

"Goddamn it... We don't know if we can keep anyone alive by this point considering there are only Panzers..." Pierce said lowly.

"Uhm, Pierce? I think we have something coming..." Pierce's squadmate said

Both of them look up toward the sky and seeing a large plane, one that is far up in the sky but when they look at it. The sense of dread flows through their body, they felt like that thing is carrying the bane of their existence.

_And they weren't wrong about it either_

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Roar of Steel**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Back in the forest a few minutes before cargo plane arrival**

The fight between the SS Archer and the Finn still going on as neither side will yield anytime soon. From an outside perspective, it looks like two SS officers duking it out but the destruction they inflicted on the area around them proves otherwise. The hillside and the forest around them were destroyed to the point it became a rocky and barren wasteland and it still not going to stop them from causing more damage. In fact, they caused more destruction to the terrain than each other.

More sparks fly from each other clash with their bayoneted rifle. A legend of olds would have laughed at the feeble attempt of dueling between them, but this is the fight meant only for two of them and it is much different compares to how old historical figures would. No swords and lances, just guns and bayonets and any trinkets that would help them.

The SS Archer dashes as the trails of bullets line up behind him as the Finn firing the machine guns at him. He sidestepped away from the machine gun fires briefly and aim his Kar98k back. He only got a brief chance as the Finn quickly focus back at him. Within the next instance, he fired his rifle and it strikes the machine gun and knocks it away from 'the Finn's' arms.

Not that the Finn will give up easily, the moment that the machine gun was knocked from his arm, he materializes two Mauser C96 in his hand and quickly firing back at his opponent. The SS Archer realized what the Finn is doing, he switches his stance and deflects the bullets with his bayoneted rifle.

"Why are you doing this? Why do you still follow their orders!?" The Finn screams at the top of his throat.

"Sorry, bud. But orders are orders and I prefer not to die, especially right now." The SS Archer said calmly which irritates the Finn more.

"THEN DIE!" The Finn somehow managed to screams louder.

If it weren't for the smokescreen created by the incendiary shells that were fired. The fort would have a sight to behold at the hillside. The clash between those two creating more destruction than two armies waging war against each other. The sheer strength of the Servants can easily supplant armies entirely.

Within each clash, they hit with such amount of forces that the shockwaves they created shook the ground. The Finn started to become more impatient with the SS Archer and he wanted to finish this, right here, right now. Even if it is going to reveal his true nature and identity, he is going to do it regardless.

When his opponent is about to land his next attack, the Finn switched his weapon and instead of deflecting the oncoming attack, he evaded it. Before the SS Archer realized it, a deafening sound and a sharp pain ran through his senses.

The Finn was holding a shotgun, a trench shotgun, charged straight to him and fire it at point-blank range. Neither Finland nor German has used this weapon at all. The SS Archer coughed blood as he realized the left side of his stomach has been gone, replaced with a gaping hole with intestine shown and blood dripping out of it.

"Damn you, you cheap shot..." The SS Archer cursed his opponent but he refused to show that he is dying.

The Finn fires another shot to finish him off but the SS Archer is still acrobatic like before. He dodges the next shot while still having the strength to fire his gun in retaliation. Decided that close-range combat is a stupid idea, he focuses on firing his rifle and keeping the distance between the Finn and him.

"Why aren't you dying!?" The Finn started to rage again despite he is already raging.

"I refuse to answer you after you played me like a fiddle like that." The SS Archer said while ignoring the wound and pain he is having.

The fight devolved into the SS Archer being defensive as he focuses on distance combat and evading oncoming fires. The Finn started to resort to more unsavory methods as the fight went on. The SS Archer still going on strong despite having such a horrible injury.

The SS Archer tried to increase the distances between the Finn and him. There are two reasons for doing so. First, the Finn has a really powerful close-ranged anti-infantry weapon. Second, he'll need a good distance so that he can use his other non-primary Noble Phantasm.

Taking a deep breath, the SS Archer looks at his opponent, who is come charging with a flame of hatred in his eyes. He focuses, cutting a second into many parts as possible, cutting that parts into more and so. The distance between him and the Finn will be cut in just a few seconds and he will most likely get killed if the Finn got too close. Make up his decision, he materializes a different sniper rifle in his hand, different from his Kar98k. Larger and having a grip and padding stock, it is clear that it is most likely stronger than his Kar98k.

A second has passed and the Finn has cut the distance considerably. The SS Archer opened his eyes and quickly aimed that rifle while holding it one-handed. The Finn lunges toward him and the next second, he leaped back and pulled the trigger.

**"Panzer Burst!"** The SS Archer screamed as he fired the gun while in the air. The muzzle velocity was so high that it has already broken the sound barrier the moment it leaves the barrel. At this point, breaking the sound barrier doesn't sound like anything special anymore. He was knocked back a considerable distance, but the receiving end will have a taste of its pure unadulterated destruction. The bullet twists the space around it like a mini-Caladbolg, razing the ground nearby the bullet.

The Finn realized the imminent danger and thus leaped away from its direction. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to avoid the attack completely and thus receiving his consequence. The bullet tore through its obstacle easily and went on indefinitely. Meanwhile, the Finn kneels in pain, with his left side now has a hole, but not a single drop of blood was shed from him,

He doesn't have any blood...

"Ha, well, it seems like I learn something thing new every day. You don't even bleed any red blood. Tit for tat for what you have done to me." The SS Archer said as he held himself standing up.

Both of them can't fight any longer, they have inflicted each other crippling wounds and thus can't continue their duels. Suddenly, the sound of a large plane was heard and soon enough. It flies over their heads. Wait, it isn't one large plane. It was five.

"Impossible, the intelligence didn't have any of those..." The Finn cursed.

"Hehe, no plan survives the first contact you know and thus I decided to tweak it a little. And by a little, I mean a huge scale... Heh... heh" The SS Archer laughed wryly while his wound still oozing blood.

"You bastard..." The Finn cursed at him.

"There isn't anything I can do anymore, good luck dealing with the surprise I brought." The SS Archer said before he disengaged and begone from 'the Finn's' sight.

"Damn it... I failed them..." The Finn cursed again, he can't fight in his condition and he isn't any medieval hero that can fight with their gut dripping out. The Finn looking back at the wall of infernal flame and fearing for the worst

_And so the worst nightmare has just begun._

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Verge of Death**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Back at the frontline**

_**Words of**_** God:**** For any sections below, search "Ao no Kiseki- Steel Roar" for the BGM of this part. Any variations work.**

"Everyone! Cargo planes incoming!" Pierce yelled as loud as he can.

Suddenly, the flare in the sky disappeared. The illuminating light of daybreak is gone, as the atmosphere turns almost pitch black. The drizzling rain and dark cloud don't make the situation any better. In the fort's area, it was as dark as a moonless night. The relentless assault of the enemy still haven't ended. Confusion and chaos ensue as the militia has no idea of what is happening except for the vicinity nearby the wall of infernal flames and that place has almost no enemy.

"Damn it! This isn't what supposed to happen, Emiya! Use your Hawkeyes" Gudao commanded his Servant.

Soon, Shirou uses his Hawkeye, the eyes of his turned silver-gray with the glint of cold steel. He looked up everything on the battlefield and sees nothing special there until he turns up to the sky.

"Impossible..." Emiya cursed himself slightly.

Even if he was in the dark, he could easily tell by the figures. They were paratroopers and not just any normal infantry they fight so far. They were armed with heavily enchanted flamethrowers which can possibly scorch Demonic Beasts into ashes but what makes him truly feared was the large mechanical humanoid being like the Panzer with a metallic tiger head, significantly heavily armed compared to the Panzer, that is what he can tell for now.

Shirou quickly charged his Caladbolg to fire it. His surroundings illuminated in azure light of mana he extrudes. As soon as the moment comes, he released the arrow and let it fly towards the mech. The arrow explodes with the forces of a thousand bombing run as if it wants to destroy whatever it lands on.

But, it didn't. The arrow barely makes a dent on the target and he only managed to destroy the parachute it was attached to. The figure lands on the ground as it shook the earth around it.

"Impossible..." Shirou shocked when the powerful shot was easily shrugged off like that.

"Focus on illuminating the fort first so we know what we are doing, the enemy has already know where we are and will utilize our blindness to their advantage" Pierce advised

"You said that you'll need light, right? Not that our situation can get any worse by using this. After all, this is all or nothing." Kiritsugu said as he aimed his flare gun up in the sky while in his other hand is holding many emergency flares.

"They'll last for a few hours but hopefully until then, the help will hopefully come in time" Kiritsugu added.

The flare flies up in the sky as if it carrying the last hope of the resistance, so many have shed their blood just to make it this far and they can't give up now. They either made it toward the daybreak or die trying, there is no other choice.

The crimson light illuminates the fort, for those who are still standing. They together will endure anything the enemy has to throw at them.

Everyone now preparing for the oncoming enemy, Gudao has commanded his Servant to not facing the flamethrower in close-quarter combat. Should even one flamethrower even getting close to the fort, it will be the end of anyone who was in it.

"Take out the paratroopers! Now!" Pierce commanded any able-fighter to start the battle.

But the situation has turned for the worse, the tiger-head mech started to move and its eyes are glowing red. It glares at the fort as if it is thirsting for blood.

"What in-" A militia said before he got turned into mincemeat within not even a second. Everyone was dumbfounded at what has just happened.

"Everyone! Dodge!" Pierce screamed.

Before they realized, their bodies have already instinctively dodge to the ground. Some poor souls were unable to avoid suffering the same fate as the first victim of that mech. Their bodies were mutilated to the point comparing a mincer to it is a severe understatement.

"What the hell! This wasn't in our plan before!" A soldier of Pierce's squad said.

"That thing isn't a Panzer, it's a fricking Tiger!" Another soldier of his said.

As if they were literally caught in a storm of bullets, so many bullets were fired at them that they can't fathom how much ammo that monstrosity is carrying. A single bullet inflicts more force than an army worth of bullets all fired on a single target.

"Enough of this, I'll draw that damn thing's fire away," Shirou said before he leaped back to the front.

The Tiger noticed him and quickly fire at him. Shirou dashes with a speed that is multiple times of the fastest human speed. He easily evades the machine gun barrage from the Panzer.

"To think that we are going to face something even worse- Pierce? What are you do-" A soldier of Pierce's squad said before he realized what Pierce is looking at.

He was looking at the cover that Shirou and Kiritsugu have built, the blades were showing signs of being cracked from being continuously fired at. It was never here before until the Tiger attacked.

"Dear God, no..." The soldier realized what is about going to happen.

"All militia! Retreat! You can't stand a chance against that thing!" The old Archer from the fort commanded any still surviving militia to retreat.

"And you too, Master. We can't be sure that your armor can withstand against the Tiger's onslaught. Fall back while you still have the chance!" The old Archer said to his Master.

Pierce looking back at the front where the tanned Archer is duking out against the Tiger, the infantry and Panzers alone have already destroyed the front badly enough and the Tiger would most likely go to add tectonic destruction on the already barren wasteland. Deciding that there is nothing he can do anymore, he quickly rushes back to the fort.

"Get in! Quick! I ain't want to die right now!" "Hurry up!" The remaining militia and Pierce's squad quickly tried to climb into the fort through the machine gun bunkers' windows.

The moment Pierce climbed in, a large deafening sound shaken almost everything in entirety, he felt as if he got shellshocked despite not even anywhere near it. He managed to break through his own blinded senses and quickly got back on his feet. Bullet casings were engraved straight into his mask but compare it to being out there, it is like comparing being bitten by an ant to being mauled by a jaguar. It seems like all of the machine gun bunkers have run out of ammo at certain points. This is actually bad because they don't have any anti-infantry measures anymore. Especially when there are flamethrowers that will come charging here.

He felt the air is much more ominous, even the brink of defeat has never been this tense to him before. He quickly tried to get to the top and contact his Servant.

He finally got up there and seeing many of the cannon crews have already gone out of combat but that isn't what he bothers about. There is still one particular person is standing out. Arnold and his Servant. Arnold is completely different from before, from a "silence and timid" man, he has changed completely into a hardened soldier who is fighting to his bitter end. Operating the cannon one manned, he fired it towards the soon-to-land flamethrowers.

"Arnold! Did you find your memory?" Pierce asked.

"No, I didn't find anything that said who I am, but my heart is telling me to do this no matter what," Arnold said

Pierce looking at the front, seeing a massive crater at where the forest was. It must have been there as proof of what managed to cause such a massive explosion like that. There is no doubt of the power of the Tiger, the thing barely changed at all ever since Shirou jumped in and it seems like the rest of Gudao's Servants has joined in combat to fight back against the Tiger. He doesn't know how they would manage to take down that monstrosity but they have to find any way to attack.

Realized what he needs to do next, he turned to his Servant

"Archer! Can you make a machine gun? Cannons aren't anywhere suitable to combat against large amounts of troops" Pierce told his Servant.

"I... I can't..." The Archer became dead silent. It was as if Pierce has just triggered his trauma, something that Pierce finds it hard to figure out what it is.

"Archer? What's wrong?" Pierce asked.

"I... It just my personal problem, about the machine guns, I, unfortunately, can't help with that." The old Archer replied sadly.

"But how!? You managed to improve our machine guns and armaments, even stuff you don't even know existed in your time!" Pierce said.

"That is either because you have said weapon on hand or know its parts like reading a blueprint" The old Archer argued back

"Damn it old man...This is not the time for your personal problem! This fort is our last shelter and if they come here, this place will be our mass cremation! Think about the people you promised to protect!" Pierce screamed at his Servant.

The old Archer flinched as if Pierce has struck at his weakest point, the Archer felt that he is really pathetic for having his Master calling out on his flaw impeding them at the most critical time.

While the conversation between the old Archer and Pierce keeps getting more discord over time, the Tiger started to take notice of the Servant a top of the fort. Aiming its cannon, before it managed to charge any meaningful amount that could cause fatality, Kuro tried to slash the cannon of the hand of the Tiger. It fired earlier than how it expected and the energy infused shell soon came charging towards the two Servants on the fort.

"What in the..." The old Archer thought when he sees the Tiger aims at him before it fired.

Realized what the Tiger is trying to do. He grabbed his Master and leaped as far as he can. Arnold realized that he is also being aimed at but was unable to act soon enough.

"BOOM!" The explosion is still ridiculous large for any military standard even when it is improperly charged. The shell struck the blades with an extreme force that not even any Servant's power could match. Hit with such huge force, he knocked from where he stood toward nearby the ridge toward the small shack that was old Archer's workshop. He struck it with great forces, parts of the workshop collapses on him and he got knocked out unconscious from there onward. The blades that have taken hit are gone, not a trace left.

"Dear Lord, if that Tiger thing can do this then how can we even stop it at all..." The old Archer dumbfounded at the fact that the blades that they were told to be indestructible no matter what is now gone.

"Screw this! I'm going to stand my ground no matter what, you better get over your own problem or else, everyone you know will be ashes and that is being optimistic," Pierce said to him before he climbs down to fight.

It this the end for them? Are they truly outclassed with no hope of reprisal?

Back at the front, the Emiya family are struggling to fend off the Tiger and the flamethrowers, Kiritsugu has almost got himself on the end of many flamethrowers but he still fights as hard as he can even with limited stamina.

"Caladbolg!" Kuro screamed as she let her arrow loose against her target.

A large explosion soon follows up, but the Tiger still easily shrugs it off like how many times they used that attack.

"Damn it! How do we suppose to destroy this piece of annoyance!" Kuro said before evaded another shell.

The paratroopers have already landed and started to wreak havoc on everything they see, Kiritsugu takes the task to eliminate them from getting near the fort, he has already swapped his Calico for something that has more firepower than an automatic pistol and not his Contender. He resorted to many armaments ranging from M249 SAW, M32 Milkor, even M202 Flash but many flamethrowers managed to flank him thanks for the Tiger's collateral destruction that Kiritsugu has to dodge, they went straight for the fort. For every flamethrower he takes down, they explode into phantasmal blazes, an undying wildfire that its heat hurts even the Servant. To make it even worse, there is no extinguishing them. The flame that they breath ain't any cooler at all.

The flanked flamethrowers still charging toward the forts, thinking that the Tiger will halt the Servants from targetting them. KABOOM! A flamethrower exploded into a phantasmal blaze, a flame, it was bold of them to assume all of the fort defenders are truly out of combat.

"Not out of the fight yet, morons... But I would have appreciated more if you didn't explode" Pierce said.

He and his 9-man squad including him, split into 3-soldier groups, each come to each of the bunkers in order to lay down fire against the oncoming enemy. They have to be selective in their firing so that they avoid exploding the flamethrowers while killing their users in the process. Not to mention should one even come very close, it will be the end for all of them.

"Keep firing, stop at nothing!" Pierce commanded his squad which somehow still has all of its crews alive.

The squad keeps fires at the enemy, carefully taking down the flamethrowers. If even one explodes, the fire left in the aftermath will incinerate any projectile went through it while the flamethrower can waltz through like nothing. That is why Pierce's squad was so adamant about how they must be careful about picking their target.

Another flamethrower's head got blown off. Its power was definitely not from any of his squad until he got a pat from behind. It was the old Archer who is holding a revolver rifle in his hand.

"I know that you're right but I can't simply just tear through my wound to do this. My Noble Phantasm is my greatest blasphemy upon what I swore myself to and I won't pull it out at least until the situation has reached its true breaking point. But at least let me lend you a hand to fend those heretics away, shall we?"

"I thankful for that at least," Pierce replied.

All of them together fight with all of their best. They have faced much more peril threat than this before and they won't let any of them come to burning this place down.

Suddenly, the Tiger's eyes started to turn their attention at them. It started to take its steps towards the fort, ignoring the siblings that were trying to take it down.

Back in the front where Shirou and Kuro were trying to take down the Tiger.

"Kuro! Is that thing walking toward the fort!?" Shirou said to his sister.

"Looks like it to me!" Kuro said back.

Both of them realized that the Tiger doesn't follow the same pattern as the Panzers. It decides what it wants to do, not by any task that has programmed on its mind.

"Jii-san! Okaa-san! Fall back to the fort! The Tiger sets its eyes on it!" Shirou said to his parents.

"What! I thought-" Kiritsugu and Iri who is holding to her husband's back said.

"No time to explain, we have to return in order to-" Shirou said while taking down the flamethrowers near their vicinities before he got cut off by a large crashing sound.

It was the Tiger trying to destroying the fort. And it is making progress in destroying it!

"Impossible... I thought there is no possible way to destroy the timeless blade in this current era!" Shirou said.

"That doesn't matter right now! We need to go back to save anyone who might still stuck in that fort." Kiritsugu replied.

The fort itself is rather small for any sort of scale in fortress building, it is actually the phalanx line along with the fort which funnels all the enemy towards it. It was the basis of step 1 but since the fort is in danger now, the plan might not work any longer for the situation has turned completely upside down.

The Emiya Family rushing back for there is much more concerning danger right now, the fort ain't lasting any longer within this peril.

"I have enough of you!" The voice of a certain old man was heard. The next moment, he is stabbing the eye of the Tiger with what looks like a bayonet rifle. The Tiger roared in "pain" and it tries to grab the old Archer but he has already evaded its grasp multiple times.

"Get out while you still can! Don't stay here!" The old Archer said out loud for everyone to hear.

Back at the fort, everyone was panicking, the fort that withstood everything so easily now crumbling in front of their eyes. Pierce's squad heeds the old Archer and thus got out of here soon as they can. But there are still people inside it and it was pure chaos, some militias managed to get out but it wasn't all of them. The back of the fort was still fine enough but they doubt this place won't end up like how the front is.

"Is everyone alright?" Did all of the militias managed to escape?" Pierce asked his allies.

"Us? Yes. The militia? Not so sure..." A soldier in Pierce's squad said.

Looking back at the fort, there are some militias who managed to escape and lying tiredly on the ground but that is definitely not all of them. The next second, the fort scorching up in flame, they heard it, the cries of anguish and despair. No matter how many times they heard it, it is still a haunting moment no matter what. And all of it was soon gone into the flame before a clock could tick.

And then he sees it, the old Archer got caught in the hand of the Tiger, the Tiger roared as it throws the old man in its hand. The next second, a large impact shook the ground and where the impact happened was where the old Archer was thrown. Judging by the terrain which was heavily cracked and caved in, the force that thrown the Archer judging even by Servant standard is definitely painful no matter how one would say.

"Archer! Are you alright?" Pierce tried to wake his Servant up.

He doesn't seem to be conscious anymore. Not right now, at least.

"Damn it! Someone get him to safety!" Pierce tried to call for help.

"You call me, bud?" The Ruler appeared behind his back.

"You! Please save Archer from-" Pierce begging for the man's help before the Ruler cut him off from saying it all.

"Yeah... yeah... I know, I'll treat his injury and get him prepared for combat as soon as I can." The Ruler said.

"Pierce! The Tiger! It broke through the fort!" Pierce's squadmate screamed when he sees the imminent danger.

The Tiger was aiming its cannon in its hand at Pierce and Ruler when they turn to look at it. An eye in the Tiger head was punctured. No doubt it is really mad right now because Archer has just penetrated its eye. The moment the Tiger noticed them, it charges its cannon, wanting to wipe both the Archer and Pierce from the face of this planet.

But that thing shouldn't have ignored its opponents before.

_**Rho Aias!**_

A seven-petal flower bloomed, protecting its user and anyone behind it. This time around, Kuro channel her mana into it. The mana-charged shell came crash upon the layered Bounded Field. The power behinds it was beyond words.

The shell strikes hard into the shield and breaks some petals, a petal of this shield has defensive capabilities akin to a heavily fortified fortress and the Tiger managed to destroy 3 petals with just a shell, just one. Kuro winced in pain as the shield being damaged, the broken fragments of the shield fly through the air as she tried to stand her ground.

The Shirou, Kiritsugu, and Iri managed to make it to the back of the fort and getting behind the barrier that Kuro traced. It is clear that the shield of Aias wouldn't last any longer if that Tiger is still around.

"Why am I still here waiting to get killed?! I got a much more critical task right now." The Ruler said before he grabs the old Archer moves him to the ridge.

"Retreat back to the ridge! Now!" Pierce told everyone who is still alive right now.

Pierce and his squad soon retreat back to the ridge, some militias tag along with them. It seems that the Tiger is more focused on the flower barrier than the retreating force right now.

"Kuro, let me help you!" Shirou said to his sister.

"No! If I let down my guard for even one second, that Tiger will kill us all!" Kuro said back.

Just when she let out her words, the Tiger fired another shell breaking 3 more petals. Kuro screams in agonizing pain that courses through every fiber of her being. The hand that is channeling mana towards the shield is bleeding profusely due to the fact that the shield's condition also represents the user's. The land in front of the barrier was devastated to the point it is impossible to ever rebuilt or terraform on this land ever again.

"Kuro! Let me patch you up!" Iri rushed in, trying to heal her bleeding arm due to receiving damage from eating two broken-charged Tiger shells.

"Mother! I can't block another attack at this point, that thing will breakthrough!" Kuro said back to her mother with tears dripping on her cheeks.

"Kiri! Do something!" Iri looks back at her husband, seeking for an answer.

"I can't! The flamethrowers are still oncoming! I can't let them get close to us either!" Kiri said while firing his M249 SAW at the enemies.

"Shirou!" Iri said back to her son.

"If you count how much Caladbolg II that I use against it, you would know that I am as tied up as you right now!" Shirou said back

Their destruction has become imminent and closer, stuck in a deadlock with no hope of breaking out. They can only hope that there is still someone who would be able to save them from this predicament.

_For as nothing is truly indestructible... For nothing can't ever exist without a breaking point..._

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Breaking Point**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Back at the collapsed Archer's workshop**

Every person who has existed in this world has only lived once. That is how human works. When a single person who has a moment of scraping against death, the person's body senses were enhanced in everything, including in memory. That is what is called 'near-death experience' when life flashes over you. And just in that moment of near-death against the Tiger, Arnold's memories suddenly came back to him even if he didn't completely get every memory of his. It is more than enough for him.

**_Reminiscence_**

Another artillery barrages, how much shells have landed on this land? If you ask him, he has already lost count long ago.

The weather so far has only gotten worse over time, it is like a cloudburst but stretched till eternity, corroding the already ruined landscape. The mud makes traversing this battlefield extremely tiring as it held you back over time. The echoes of machine guns that went tirelessly onto the night. He has only one purpose, sending messages and intelligence. In other words, a runner. He constantly has to leave the safety in order to carry out his duty, it is never a good thing. Especially on the frontline right now.

"Help me!" A soldier screamed before being silenced by machine guns.

Running on the path of perils, he isn't allowed to do anything but to do what his job told. But should push came to shove, he'll tag along with a squad and fight in the front. Not that it is a good idea in the first place.

"A large number of enemies incoming!" Another soldier said before he got silenced by a bullet.

Now he realized he can't let things flow on its own right now. Running away at a time like this is asking for death and thus he has to fight or die. He prepares his pistol, a P08 Luger. He noticed that soldiers are panicking and the machine gunners who are firing back are being the same. But something is wrong, his allies are falling one by one while the enemy charges seem to be no stopping at all. He runs through the trench while the enemy is getting closer. He counts every second he could use before he has to encounter combat. Any seconds not having to spend on combat is valuable for him.

And that moment comes and all hell breaks loose. The enemy's soldiers flood into the trench and begin the slaughter. The screams and cries rang out through the air, as everything turned into madness. Arnold who is running can't escape the fight and thus got pulled into it. But, he won't let himself die here yet.

He hides on the blind corner of the trench, waiting for the enemy soldiers to coming in. Trenches are built on zigzag to reduce artillery and mortar damage and he'll take advantage of that. He heard footsteps incoming and taking his chance when a British soldier came.

He aimed his pistol and fired it the next moment a Brit turned around. Arnold put a bullet squarely on the Brit's head before he realized it and Arnold soon grabs the corpse and holding it like a shield, another soldier comes and fired at Arnold before he realized his bullets were striking the corpse, not his intended target. Arnold takes advantage of the confusion and fires his Luger repeatedly at his opponent. The next moment, the Brit he fought against is dead.

Let out a sigh of relief but the fight isn't ended yet. He decided to loot their gears while watching out for footsteps. Taking the revolver and its ammo from the corpses and reloading his Luger. He doesn't need the rifle as he is a runner, not a soldier who charges toward the machine guns' fire. Decided to continue on his duty, he continues to run.

The artillery strikes still go on, there would be a moment soon enough that he'll encounter someone, friends or foes. He continues to run while everything is falling into madness. Finally, he managed to finally see one of his allies.

"Hey! Can I tag along? I need to reach to the officer-" Arnold said.

"Oh! It is you! The runner from before. Surprised to see you being alive for so long." The German soldier said to him.

Arnold can understand why he said that. Runners have the highest mortality rate due to the danger of their own job. You have to leave the safety of the trench and risk being turned into cheese by enemies' fire. But now isn't the time to ponder, it is fights or dies.

"Now isn't the time for idle chatting, the British will overrun us soon if we don't do anything right now! And what's everyone doing right now to lead to this situation!" Arnold asked.

"Don't ask me! We have to retreat right now! There's too many of them and we can't fight them off on our own!" The allied soldier responded.

"Wait! I need to get to the officer to get his letter!" Arnold asked his allies.

"Now isn't the time! He is most likely either escaped from this trench or died already." One of the allied soldiers said.

"British!" A soldier said before he got pierced by a rifle bullet.

The squad returned fire at the enemy soldiers but they realized they got surrounded when there are enemies coming from the back too.

"Move! Move!" One of the leading soldiers said.

Arnold got no choice but to tag along, he decided to grab the corpse of one of his dead allies and use it as a shield. As disgusting as it is, it's the only reason he managed to make it this far.

Arnold watches the back of the squad while the squad moves forward, British soldiers are flooding in the trench and killing anything inside, it was as if the squad that Arnold tags along is the last one alive right now.

He kept firing his Luger while holding the corpse, sometimes switches to the Mk V revolver when he got stuck on a continuous firefight when he doesn't have any time to reload. The corpse soaks up most of the damage but Arnold can almost feel the impact of the bullet even if he isn't directly hit by it.

Suddenly a scream nearby him got his attention, Arnold realized that the squad leader got shanked by a soldier with a bayonet and was bleeding to his death. The enemies in the front used the confusion and killed most of the squad the moment the leader's demise was sealed.

"Get behind me and giving fire support!" Arnold said to the remnants of the squad who are still alive.

The remaining allied soldiers quickly get behind him and return fires while they still have the chance, the enemies fire at Arnold who is holding the tattered corpse that has received many punishments throughout their moving out.

Of course, the corpse can't protect him much more, as bullets penetrating through it. He felt a sharp pain when a bullet grazes through his cheeks. But he can't spare his thought about his pain and focus on aiming his pistol against the charging infantry. The backline soldiers which are two of the surviving soldiers of the squad return their fires with their pistols and rifles.

"I can't keep this up any longer! Prepare to dodge to cover!" Arnold said before he let the corpse go and pulled the two of the soldiers to a blind corner

Well, conveniently enough, a grenade was thrown at them and when Arnold let go of the corpse, it landed on it. The grenade exploded blocking the views away for a second momentarily. It was more than enough for them to escape.

All three of them breathe shallowly, they just lost so many allies and they neither manage to get to anywhere remotely safe nor even make it to the communication quarter.

"What to do now, they'll surround us sooner or later." A soldier said.

They see many British soldiers running past them, it seems like they didn't notice them at all. Finally managed to let out a breath of relief but they know that they'll have to get out of here sooner or less. Otherwise, it will be dead for them all. Arnold takes a deep breath and thinks about what course of action should he took. He takes a good look around where they are right now.

"What's your name by the way?" Arnold asked his two allied soldiers.

"Well, my name is Hans, the other guy is Fritz." One of the soldiers answered.

"Well, good to know you, Hans. Anyway, we're about 150 meters away from the communication quarter that I supposed to be here and I need to get there to deliver messages" Arnold said back.

"Forget about that dude! There is no way you can reach there when there are those Brits everywhere!" Hans whispered.

Arnold understands the risk of getting out of here, he'll paint a giant target on his back and alerts every single Brit who is in here. But, that is what he is going to do.

"Listen, I'll draw all of their attention and all of you will focus on getting out of here while you all still can," Arnold said to his allies.

"What! Are you insane!? There is no way you will survive that!" Fritz said when he heard what Arnold said.

"Listen, I know this is as stupid as a terminally-ill mental patient. But please, for the sake of yours, get out when I making a fuss out there." Arnold said to his allies.

He crawls out of the blind corner and loots the corpses for anything he can use, he grabs 4-5 revolvers and taking its ammo with him, some smoke grenade. Before Fritz or Hans got to say anything. Arnold jumped out of his trenches and the battle has begun.

"A German unit is here! Take him out!" The British soldiers begin heading for where Arnold is, or to be exact, to shoot him down.

"Hans, what should we do now!?" Fritz started to panic.

"We have to help him of course!" Hans said to his panicking friend.

Hans quickly tried to take a look around for anything, they thankful that the British soldiers didn't retake the equipment from the corpse yet. And there is no one here for Arnold has drawn all of their attention.

"Find anything that can help him! Grab a machine gun if you find one!" Hans said to his friend, Fritz.

Meanwhile, above the trenches, Arnold is running with his life on the line, The British tried to fire at him but most of the time, Arnold has evaded them. When there are machine gunners who are aiming their Lewis guns at him, Arnold whips out the two revolvers with one of them in each of his hands. He fired at the head of the machine gunners before they can fire at him. He kept firing at the British soldiers while making his way to the communication quarter, the unending rain with the smell of burnt gunpowder filled the air, his senses were pushed to their limit. Within his own soul and heat of moments, he whispered.

_Dodging shrapnel and barbed wire  
Running straight into enemy's fire  
Running blindly as I hold my breath  
Let out a prayer in the symphony of death..._

He discards the empty revolver from his hand and takes out another one, his other hand still continuously fire the revolver at the threat that could possibly kill him. 150m, to him, it was as long as running across the world. Anything, anyone could kill him while he runs blindly while desperately looking for his destination. He emptied another revolver and discard it away for a different one.

Suddenly, his body is screaming as if he is facing an unknown danger, he doesn't know what to do as he can't see anything at all. Decided to let his instinct do the job, he put his blind faith in it. He switches his stance and slides on the mud while ignoring the possible danger that he could be fired at. During his stance switching, he felt something grazing his hairs, it was a sniper shot. Having no time to ponder, he pulls himself up after his sliding became slow. Making the last stretch towards the trench leading to the communication quarter.

After landing in the trench, he made his final dash to the communication quarter and there is another British soldier who is aiming his rifle at Arnold, having no time left to reload the revolver nor having any spare one, he grabbed anything that could be used as a weapon and in the heat of the moment, he smashed the opposing soldier's head apart with a pickaxe that he picked from the ground. Seeing the horror of what he has done but he has no time to mourn the enemy, that will be waited until after the war and only if he managed to survive until then.

What greets him in there was the corpse of the man whom he supposes to meet. He was shanked with a bayonet and fired at with a revolver until his body bleeds to death. He sighed, no matter high-ranked you are, you aren't any stronger than a new recruit physically. He examined the corpse and sees a mail that was underneath it. It was tainted with the blood of its supposed sender but it is still readable.

He notices that the officer has a Luger but it is different than his. The dead can't use anything so he decided to take it and examine it to see what is different. It has a longer barrel which allows higher accuracy and muzzle velocity, that is what he knows. He realized this is the rumored Artillery Luger he heard much about which is usually issued for officer and artillery crew. He decided to bring it with him since no one left would ever come here. While searching the corpse, he heard the sound of a bird, he looks around and sees that there is a pigeon cage here.

"Guess the Brits haven't check this place at all," Arnold said before he takes the pigeon cage with him.

He realized that the British soldiers will be coming in here soon. After the chaos he made up there, there is no way he would get away unnoticed. He flips the table and prepares for any incoming enemies. He searches for anything that could help him fend them off. His judgment was half-right, there is indeed a soldier who is running into the quarter but he isn't searching for him. It was as if he is running from someone. Before he got inside the quarter, blood spurts out of him signifying that he is being shot at by a machine gun, but who?

The next moment, he saw two familiar faces rushing into the quarter. It was Hans and Fritz, Hans was wielding a Lewis gun while Fritz has a scoped rifle.

"Dear lord! I would never think I would see you again!" Hans said to his newfound friend.

"Thank the lord that you two are still alive. But why aren't you guys escaping from this place?" Arnold asks his friends.

"Because friends don't abandon each other in the hard times, idiot!" Fritz scolding Arnold for being rash like that.

"Ok... I'm sorry that I made you two have to do this, but what do we do now?" Arnold asked.

"Then we will get out of here, I noticed that there is reinforcement coming soon to retake the trenches, what we have to do is to get in contact with them!" Hans said.

"Oh, and there is a flamethrower kit outside the quarter, it was buried under rubble so no one managed to notice it until I decided to inspect them. Thankfully that they aren't damaged at all." Fritz said to Arnold about what he found.

"Then hold this pigeon cage for me, there might be a time when our fate will lie entirely on it..." Arnold said to Fritz before he hands out the cage to his friend.

"Okay, roll out. Watch my guard for me!" Arnold said before he heads out.

The trio steps out of the quarter and begins their plan, Arnold don on the body armor and the flamethrower, it may limit his mobility but just how long can his fellow friends manage to keep up dodging bullets? It was a gamble on Arnold's part but he has taken his role and there is no turn back from it anymore. He stares emptily onto his front, seeing British soldiers came running in to take the trio down. Arnold takes a deep breath before he does anything and soon he holds the trigger, and his vision from that point turns white as he wakes up from his own memory lane.

**Back in reality**

Arnold wakes up in the shambling ruin of the old Archer's workshop, he felt immense pain from being strike so hard into a building that was built by a Servant but compares to the pain he experienced in his memory, it is mild compared to it.

"Ugh, what happened? What's going on here?" Arnold mumbles painfully but he still tries to get on his feet.

He sees it, the very indestructible fort is now a burning ruin, a shield that only has one petal left in a distance. A mechanical monster that is destroying everything in its path, it has only one desire and that is to see the world burn. An unending invasion of many flamethrowers and apparently there are a few that are coming his way. Arnold sighed tiredly, he broke something in his body and he himself doesn't sure what exactly has he broke but he can't complain right now. He'll have to stand his ground or he will be ashes that fly through the air.

"Goddamn it, I don't have anything to fight..." He thought when he sees those flamethrowers.

The first one is a considerable distance away from others but that doesn't mean he should be confident when he doesn't even have a weapon. Before he realized it, the flamethrower has already got close enough to him and within that moment. His body reacts almost as if instinct has completely control him, the next second, he has impaled the flamethrower through the chest with a pickaxe and lifting it up as it guzzling blood like a fountain. The blood drips all over the pickaxe that he wields and the guzzling blood spews all over him. At that moment, he whispered.

_As the rain of blood unveils my crimson cloaks..._

Soon, he throws the impaled corpse away from the pickaxe and it dissipates to azure ashes soon as it lands on the ground. He grips the pickaxe tighter as if he has turned into a completely different being. He searches within his memory to see if he can have any weapons at all.

_"...try to remember anything you could probably recall" the words of wisdom from a man who tried to help him._

Arnold takes a deep breath and calmly search within his memory, Servants can't fight without their weapon and they have to get them in some way. He believes that all Servants have this ability and he shouldn't be the exception. Time froze in his own mind, he was like a phantom in his own memories, a wide array of weapons carefully lined up with every weapon he has used or got his hand on so far in his memory, the Artillery Luger and normal variants, Kar98k, Mk VI revolver, even the smoke grenades and stick grenades that he used sometimes. But what truly got his attention was the flamethrower that he got at the end of the memory or at least a part of it. He grabbed the pair of them and decide that the flamethrower will be used at the most needed, there is no need to play all of his hands yet.

He snaps back to reality while holding the pair of Artillery Luger in his hand. Realized how he would be able to fight back, he realized what he is truly capable of. He doesn't know who he is yet but he'll use this refounded power to hold back the infernal horde and the Tiger. He decided to bring the pickaxe along should he get caught on close combat situations. He focuses his strength on his feet and dashes with a speed beyond how one would expect from a modern Servant, he ran while firing the pair of pistols in his hands at the oncoming flamethrower.

With truly unexpected power boost, the pistol rounds easily burst through the flamethrower but there are still too many of them for him to handle alone. He decided to switch his tactic and that he'll skip through all of them. For the virtues of being a runner, he leaped on the head of a flamethrower and his action completely throw the others off guard. The sound of metal rang with each flamethrower he stepped on and with a speed which completely outspeeds flamethrowers. He ran on their heads and make a large jump off the last one.

The next moment he landed, he straight up shook the ground of where he landed. Having nothing left to stop him and still by a considerable distance from where he needed to be, he pushes his legs to its limit and his own feet literally digging the ground up from the speed it moved. Another group of flamethrowers is in front of him and they started to fire first and create a wall of flame before he getting anywhere close to them as if they decided to use suppression instead of using brute force.

Seeing what they intended to do, Arnold returns back to his mind, back to an armory that was locked in time and space from anything else. There is only one person there and that was Arnold himself, he grabbed a grenade and quickly returns to reality. Holding a grenade in his hand, he throws it with a slight distance in front of him. He didn't use it with the purpose to take down the flamethrowers but to give him leverage against them to jump over that wall of flame.

The grenade landed on the ground and Arnold uses the pistol in his other hands and fired at it when he jumps right above it. The grenade exploded as it pushes him high up. The height he jumped will let him land right at the group of flamethrowers and over the wall of flame they created. He takes a deep breath and swapped his weapon for his strongest known weapon so far. The flamethrower of a bygone time materialized in his hand as he holds it like a sword. The flame erupted from the nozzle of the gun as he holds the trigger and Arnold starts to charge it with as much power as he can, soon the flamethrower itself turns into what can be compared as a blazing sword from afar.

**"Crimson Gale!" **Arnold screams to the top of his lunge as he spins himself while holding it.

At that moment, the flamethrower he held created a whirlwind of flame that spread around him, the unwitting flamethrowers who were caught in it soon were scorched by its phantasmal heat. Soon, all that left are burnt corpses that will soon dissipate into azure ashes and a large fire created from the aftermath of that attack.

Arnold sprints out from the fire unhindered, holding the flamethrower that caused the destruction that was left behind. His target is now the Tiger with nothing stopping him in his way. He made his leap and puncture into the eye of the Tiger with his flamethrower, the Tiger roared when he did that but he refuses to stop. He starts to hold the trigger of the flamethrower and flame erupts out of its metal frame.

"Boil in your steel coffin!" Arnold said with a burning rage like the fiery destruction he left behind.

It is clear that the Tiger may resist a lot of punishment but facing an attack like that has turned it into a "brazen bull" which will most likely boil the Tiger's operator if he does nothing about Arnold. The Tiger roared from the damage it is receiving and it tried to grab Arnold but unfortunately for the Tiger that when it tried to grab him, he struck its claw with the pickaxe that he found back at the old Archer's workshop and the next second, its hand is gone. The pickaxe that he struck was "Herculean Task" which brought forth the power of Heracles. It was supposed to be used for effortless mining, but such power is fortunately indiscriminating when it comes to its striking target. The Tiger became confused when it can't grab him, the perpetrator of its damage.

"This is your chance! Do something!" Arnold said while still holding the flamethrower's trigger.

Seeing what is going on, Kuro safely dispels the shields away and breathing tiredly, the Tiger obviously can't fight when it is constantly being damaged by Arnold's flamethrower. Now that when one thinks about it, Tiger is known for extremely durable but that doesn't mean it was invincible, any WW2 armored weapons still haven't reached the airtight level of modern armor thus leaving it being weak to extreme heat and fire and it most likely still apply to the Tiger despite it is a mech, not a tank.

"Shirou! Find something that can destroy it!" Kiritsugu said to his son.

"I don't know! We have already used hundreds of Caladbolg II and it has barely managed to do any real damage at the Tiger!" Shirou said.

"Then use something that you know is the strongest! One that is in the realm of your capabilities. The strongest one that you can trace!" Kiritsugu said back to his son.

"Jii-san! You know that if I have done so, I'll die from mana exhaustion!" Shirou said back to his father.

"Then I'll expend a Command Seal if it is to do so!" Then Shirou received words telepathically from his Master who he hadn't seen ever since he left for the frontline to fight the Tiger.

"Master! Where are you!" Shirou replied telepathically back to Gudao.

"Don't worry about me! I'm at the most back which is the ridge, I can see the situation right now, Emiya! You have to be decisive right now! Your family's livelihood is resting squarely on your hand!" Gudao said to his Archer.

Shirou stood there realized what he has to do, looking at his hand, looking at his sister and his family, looking at the menace that was called 'Tiger'. He reaches out to his inner world. "Unlimited Blade Works".

He sees it, a large wasteland that stretches till the horizon with large gears floating in the sky. The only landmarks this place has is a large hill. No, at this point, it is a small mountain. He has changed so much ever since he was first summoned which is back when Chaldea was first formed. With more allies coming and join Chaldea. The time he fought side by side in the fight to protect humanity has forever changed the way he was and he thanks Chaldea for it.

He walks up on the mountain seeing blades and weapons of his allies anchored to the ground like grave markers but they were always at their best quality and well-preserved. The height of the placement of the weapons on this mountain represents their rightful wielders' importance to Archer. If it is placed at the bottom, either it is a nameless weapon or someone who Archer is indifferent to. The higher Archer walked, he sees more weapons of each represented their wielders. Gae Bolg of Cu Chulainn, Caladbolg of Fergus, Hrunting of Beowulf, Durandal of Hector, and much more.

When he has climbed up half of the mountain of his own inner world which is meant for the people whom he has good relationships with. The most out of ordinary to him is, the chain of Enkidu belongs to Gilgamesh, he admitted it that his relationship between Gil and himself wasn't anything of what one would call a good one and he can say the same. But he simply can't tell why it would place particularly really high up here but that isn't what matters to him now.

He climbs up to the top of the mountain, where there are the weapons that belong to the people who have really great importance to Archer. Like his father's Origin knife, his mother's steel wire edge which is more of a cost-effective tracing than a weapon uses on hand. Kanshou and Byakuya which is like how he and his sister is like with each other, inseparable. And Sitonai's sword which is there as an anti-dragon blade but it is useless right now in this scenario. All of the aforementioned weapons are placed at the highest point of the mountain which represents how important they were to him.

But right now, what he truly needed is not the said aforementioned weapons but the one that is at a slightly lower place than his family. It was a sword shines with a color of gold. With ornaments decorated in with beautifully crafted craftsmanship, this was the blade belong to a certain someone who is also very important to him even back before he being a Servant. Artoria Pendragon. He grabbed the blade by its handle and lift it out of the ground. The sword shines with a gracing light of nobility of a king which is what it supposed to be.

"Artoria, you'll always my light of promised victory..." Shirou whispered as he saw the hazy image of the blond-haired girl.

Soon, he snapped back to reality, seeing that Tiger struggling against Arnold. Shirou quickly traces the blade in his hand.

"I'll make you paid for doing this! Dead be damned! I'll take you down even with the last of my strength!" Shirou's voice was heard across the landscape.

"By the power of my Command Seal, Emiya! DESTROY THE TIGER WITH THE EXCALIBUR!" Gudao said as he uses his Command Seal, Chaldea's Command Seal is more of separated mana batteries than enforcing rules. That just to show how loyal Chaldean Servants are to their Master that they have no need to be enforced.

The sword of promised victory begins to take shape and materialize in Shirou's hand. Its light outshines the flare that has been illuminating the battleground before it was razed multiple times. Shirou holding his breath and prepare to unleash the Noble Phantasm. This isn't an imperfect copy like how most his tracing work. This is Excalibur, almost true to its form. Thanks to his unbreakable bond with Artoria, he managed to understand her to the point he can trace her Excalibur perfectly. The only reason he doesn't do this because his Mana level isn't as high as Artoria thus risking himself to get killed should he uses the Excalibur NP. It is also said that Divine Construct like her blade is supposed to be impossible to be comprehended detailedly but Shirou's ability granted him to bypass that as long as he can handle the cost of tracing the blade.

But right now, with newfound strength from the Command Seal, he grips the blade tighter. With a determined glare and the blade started to shine brighter.

"By the light of this sword and the people here, monstrosity like you shall be purged from the face of this planet!" Emiya screamed before he swung the blade down.

Arnold sees that Shirou is about to use what he would assume to be the strongest blade he has, he quickly jumped off from the Tiger while the flamethrower is still plunged into it.

"Excalibur!" Emiya said with all he has as he swung the blade down.

The light soon ruptured through the cloudy sky and the next moment, it slammed down upon the Tiger, Excalibur was the most known strongest holy sword in all of mythology and history. It might not be the most powerful weapon but it is the most powerful that Shirou can lay his hands on. The beam of light soon slammed onto the Tiger as its part started to being ripped out from the sheer power of the blade. Its hand, head, everything, all gone with the light of the blade itself. Afterward, a pillar of light burst onto the sky, letting everyone see the power behind that attack.

Shirou breaths heavily, even with a Command Seal, it is extremely exhausting to broken-charge Excalibur so that he can finally destroy the Tiger. Excalibur is ranked as A++ NP when traced and a + was added when he broken-charge the weapon. A powerful attack like that would render most opponents' death unless fighting against Beast class.

"The Tiger, it's finally gone, we did it..." Shirou said with a smile in his tired face.

Now, it is only the flamethrowers that they had to deal with, the battle has finally turned to their favor. But, perhaps nothing in this world was ever simple to resolve. For the Tiger wasn't the only thing they have to concern.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Sparks Liner High**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

A sudden slash came suddenly and its target was Kiritsugu, he quickly dodges and blocks the incoming attacks, but something is wrong. The enemy's attack and speed were far too powerful for Servants' standard. Soon, Kiritsugu was unable to keep the pace and-

"Gah!" Kiritsugu instinctively screams when his knife was struck right out of his hand.

And just in the next moment, a slash cut through Kiritsugu's stomach and he fell to his knee from the pain and the wound, his gut is bleeding from a cut that he barely managed to evade that should he fail will bisect him in half.

Just when the unseen enemy is about to behead Kiritsugu, his son joined the fray and blocked that attack.

"Tsk, when that Tiger suddenly came for the fort and then only focus on the shield, I know something is wrong. Nothing can be smart and stupid simultaneously at the same time. That Tiger was first manually controlled when you head for the fort and then let that thing on auto and getting out of it after you destroy the fort and use it as a diversion." Shirou said while blocking his enemy's attack which just destroys his blades, however, he can trace them back instantaneously.

"Outstanding move you have right there, but you ain't killing any of our family members while we are still here!" Kuro jumped on the fight.

Sparks flying everywhere. A blazing field where they are fighting reminds him of that horrible memory or to be more exact, the memory he learned of. Shirou's and Kuro's blades were constantly broken by the sheer strength of the enemy they fight against. Base on the enemy's strength and proficiency with the weapon they use, they safely assume it is a Grand Cross. The most powerful enemy they fight so far in this Singularity and of course, the Tiger is definitely on the top of the list.

The sounds of broken blades echo through the landscapes, they now understand why the Finn said that they'll need 3 Servants just to fight this one certain threat properly. This thing is way beyond the Servants' scale and has to be swiftly finished off before it can do anything. Unfortunately for them that they only have 2 Servants which is Shirou and Kuro who can fight close combat against Grand Cross without putting themselves at risk. Iri is a Caster which is more for Support than direct combat and Kiritsugu is out of the picture, Arnold may be able to block a few attacks before receiving the fatal blow.

Stuck in a deadlock against the Grand Cross, unable to break out against the barrage of constant attack. Shirou and Kuro started to run out of time, if the Grand Cross isn't dealt with properly, it will most likely cause destruction to the coming rescue team.

Shirou got his pair of 56th Kanshou and Bakuya destroyed by the Grand Cross already, just how powerful that thing is when it can destroy blades with almost one hit like that.

The Grand Cross evaded another ambush attack from Kuro and retaliate almost immediately, Kuro blocked that oncoming strike as it breaks her pair of Kanshou and Bakuya... again.

"That thing just dodges like almost as if it has an extreme level Instinct that is beyond even your wife, Shirou-san", Kuro said while blocking another attack from Grand Cross

"Sis, we have to do something about this already, we need to pull an attack that can best even its evasion," Shirou said when he lunged at the back of the Grand Cross with his blade only to be pushed back by sheer strength of the Grand Cross.

Both of the siblings got into the position, one is behind the Grand Cross and one at the front. This will be their decisive attack and will end in a matter of seconds, this technique is not only hard to corporate but also have the possibility that it might backfire. But that isn't what matters to them for they have to end it right now."

The enemy readies itself and both of the siblings are about to pull the technique using the true meaning of Kanshou and Bakuya.

_**Word of God: **__**For this part, use Fate/Stay Night - Mighty Wind ost for this battle.**_

_Spirit and technique, flawless and firm._

"I have to surpass my enemy to exchange blows..." Shirou thought while holding Kanshou and Byakuya.

Both of the siblings throw their pair of Kanshou and Bakuya, Emiya throws one pair while his sister throws two pairs, they have charged their blades with as much of magical energy as they can in the least amount of time and throw at both sides.

The three pairs of blades will draw an arc and intersects right on the enemy. As the blades traveled, they draw into beautiful crosses that will all intersect at the Grand Cross. No Heroic Spirit would ever able to get out unscathed from this Noble Phantasm, especially when there is two Servant of the same who is using it at the same time on one target.

However, followed by the sound of blades clashing, the Grand Cross has easily deflected all 3 pairs of Kanshou and Byakuya with ease, that thing has escaped the attack.

Both of the siblings are unarmed now, their twin swords were supposed to come back to them even when deflected, but that thing somehow managed to redirect all of the 3 pairs to behind its. Taking advantage, the Grand Cross closes in Shirou's location. Both of the siblings charged to the Grand Cross.

"Freeze, out." Both of the siblings chanted

The same twin swords block its attack as the moment when Shirou's projection was completed. Using the image that he prepared, he recreated Kanshou and Byakuya anew.

The thing tried to smash his sword away with his strength, but before that happened. Both of the siblings chanted.

_Our strength rips the mountains._

Another surprise attack from behind, the things deflect the Kanshou back with its godlike instinct. Taking advantage of that moment, Shirou swung his Bakuya right at its flank. And the thing blocks it back with its saber...

"This damn thing is a monster..." Shirou thought when his blade got knocked back.

However...

_Our swords cut the water._

"If I didn't need to fight this monster, I wouldn't need to chant this poem in the first place..." Shirou thought before waiting for the next attack.

The Bakuya attacks it from behind again. It's needless to say that it is the same blade that was thrown and deflected. He swung the Kanshou in his other hand when he caught his chance

_*CLASH!*_

That damned thing blocked another attack from behind again, even Shirou's frontal assault.

Time stopped.

Shirou takes an instant to assess each others' condition. He knows that his attack has ended, his two pairs of Bakuya and Kanshou were already deflected but that thing is also most likely at its limit from focusing at him alone. No matter how tough it is, its fate was sealed from the moment it deflected the first three-thrown pairs of Kanshou and Bakuya.

This battle that appeared to look like a stalemate and it will be resolved in a few next seconds.

_*CLANG!*_

That thing turned its back to prevent being backslashed by Kuro who leaped in, but it forgot that Shirou is now at its back. When he knows that his sister would get its attention, he turned his back around and trace another pair of twin swords except for this time, he broken-charge the pair of twin swords.

_Our names reached the Imperial Villa_

Shirou screamed at the top of his lung as if his voice would pierce the heaven, he swung the pair of broken-charge swords with all of his might as they penetrate through the back of the Grand Cross. And just before the Grand Cross got penetrated, the thing's strength knocked Kuro back by a considerable distance into the air before it realized it has completely played in and falls completely into the siblings' plan.

That moment when it has been penetrated in the back by the pair of broken charged swords, its combat ability drops rapidly. Kuro who has been knocked back into the air quickly traced a wall of heavy blades right at where she was being knocked back at.

The moment she landed her feet on the blades, Kuro pushed herself right at the crippled Grand Cross. Traced another pair of Kanshou and Bakuya. For the siblings managed to turn the tide against the Grand Cross, they will finish it off at the next second. For once and for all.

The three pairs of Kanshou and Bakuya which were deflected soon will intersect right at the Grand Cross, the siblings with each holding the pair of Kanshou and Bakuya now came charge towards it. Intending to finish it off all at once.

This is the technique utilizing the sword's attraction to one another, consecutive projections, keeping the basic technique in which was symbolized by the chanted poem. The user projects three sets of Kanshou and Bakuya, executing an unavoidable combination through throwing and slashing maneuvers. Each blade is lethal and its a multiple direction attack which prohibits all measure of escapes and defense. The only way to escape is through omnidirectional defense or suicidal charge on the user. And the power only amplified because in this case there are two people of the same using one same technique.

Both of the siblings flood their swords with all of the mana they had, elongating and wrapping them into a twisted imitation of a Demon's and Angel's wings with feathers on the backside and edges of dawn and dusk on other. They came charge at the Grand Cross...

Three pairs of Kanshou and Bakuya that will intersect right at the Grand Cross, one broken-charged pair that is sticking out of its back, waiting to be detonated. And the two wings of heaven and hell that will soon seal its fate for all eternity. There is no escape anymore, its rampage will stop right here and at this place.

_**Two of us cannot hold the heavens together**_

In just not even a second, what was once of a Grand Cross is now nothing left but a butchered corpse that has been cut into many small pieces that is almost unidentifiable. The siblings have now passed each other, somehow unscathed from the potential friendly fire and their winged blades shatter into glass pieces that disappear with the wind and rain. They did it, they finally take down the Grand Cross. The corpse soon set ablaze and as if the Beast's fire is a spark then this one is an inferno. The flame that so hot it could burn this earth apart.

*sigh*" An inferno that is as undying like how that Grand Cross is, but unfortunately, it can only bring destruction and that is the only thing it can capable of." Kuro said when she looks at the blazing corpse.

"Well, we have done what we have to do. We need to find Jii-san before he got into more trouble." Shirou said to his sister.

They head back to where they were, but the situation that was chaotic now has spiraled out into uncontrollable.

_For when everything falls into chaos, even the most patience will snap upon this blasphemy_

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Blasphemy Upon Heavens**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Back at where Kiritsugu got injured**

Here he lies on a blazing battlefield, as hot as the depth of hell, as dark as moonless nights. This haunting image reminds him of that time, the time back when he was at the Fifth Holy Grail War. He stares at the fire, remembering the fire that he caused during his lifetime, the Fuyuki fire that forever burned into his memory.

The difference was the gunfire that went on the edge of the ridge, the oncoming and rushing flamethrowers that ran across him, ignore him for as there is only one objective left to them. When the heat kissed his face, he already found himself crawling through the flame despite his grievous injuries. Eventually, he gave up. He laid himself on the ground, looking up at the dark sky as the raindrops fall on his tired face. He felt the heat of the flame and cold of the rain falling from the sky. He looks up to it as if he wonders why did he fight for so long.

He felt tired, he just wanted to rest. Yet he felt he has failed his duty, and he can't be forgiven for his own incompetence. Slowly, he shut his eyes. In the next moment, he saw a familiar face. It was his wife, whose cheeks are dripping in tears that are dropping on his forehead. The flame illuminates her face as she looks into him. He realized that his head is now lying on his wife's thighs who is healing his wounds. The tears that dropped on his face weren't the tear of sorrow but the one of happiness that she has found him.

"Honey, I glad that I found you," Iri said as she looks at Kiritsugu who is lying on her thighs.

"Iri... Glad to see you too... Wait, where are Shirou and Kuro?" Kiritsugu asked his wife.

"They were fighting the Grand Cross which severely injured you. Don't worry about them, they'll find a way to break through it." Iri reassures her husband.

"Well, sorry to break in your romantic conversation with each other but this isn't the time to sit here and be lovey-dovey! The final defense line is in desperate need of help and we need all of the help we can get." The Ruler said to the couple in front of him.

"Guh... I'll see what I can do but there is no way I can get here on foot." Kiri said to the Ruler.

"Then I'll bring you there myself!" The Ruler said to Kiri as he lifts him up and moves with breakneck speed in a matter of seconds.

The Ruler and Iri move as fast as their feet can carry, seeing the wall of flame in front of them, they leaped as high as they can and jumped over it. On the other side of the wall is 12 people who are fighting with all they had, firing their weapon onto the endless horde of flamethrower that will scorch everything on this ridge if letting anywhere close. It was a desperate situation that almost as if there is no solution to this dilemma.

Iri quickly uses her magecraft and created multiple steel-thread swords and firing it at the enemy. Those things burst through the enemy almost effortlessly but there are still too many of them coming for her to fend off.

"Ruler! Is there anyone Servant who can fight?" Iri quickly asks him.

"If you ask the old Archer then he can probably rejoin the fight, but his condition is too unstable for anything at all." The Ruler said.

A loud noise burst through the battlefield, everyone looks at each other but not taking their eyes off the frontline for long as they know the answer by now. Kiritsugu has used his M82 Barrett and firing it at any invader that is coming.

"If I can fight then I won't let any of those damn things get close, I'll defend the entrance to the shoreline with anything I have," Kiritsugu said

"Yeah yeah, no need for being so dramatic, I'll tend your wound while you firing that large caliber rifle of yours. Just don't make your wound reopen itself when you are fighting." The Ruler said.

"I have to do this, I can't die right now. Not when I have found a clue to my identity!" Arnold said while he dual wields the pair of Artillery Lugers.

There are too many of them for this fight, limited manpower, oblivious about time for as there is no moment to spare doing it. A race against time as they fending off all of this by themselves. Even when having the support of 3 Servants, they are still undermanned for this final stretch.

"I have to do this, even if I am going to hurt myself, then so be it," Pierce said before he drops his Widow Maker and taking out the pair of modified M1911, "Death and Taxes"

He fires it at the frontline, the moment the bullet landed on the ground, it explodes with the force of a thousand artillery shells. He fired another shot and it explodes again with the same strength. He knows that if that thing was fired at any close range, he would kill himself by the sheer power it has. But that has little meaning for this is a do or die situation.

Behind the flaming wall, he sees it, the Archer siblings have made it and begins to take out any oncoming soldiers beneath them with a volley of arrows from their bow.

"Is everyone alright? Hope we weren't too late." The siblings asked everyone who is there.

"We're fine! But we can't hold this for long!" Pierce said.

_**Words of God:**_ _**For this part, use Pe****rsona 3 - Battle for Everyone's Souls.**_

The siblings land in the fortification which was only 3 meters in radius and at the center is the cargo net that substitutes as a ladder to the shoreline. The siblings traced hundreds of swords which all float in the air. Within the next second, the siblings let the barrage of swords to rain down on their enemy. Blades after blades impale on enemy soldiers like rats against a hailstorm. But after that fight against Grand Cross, their dwindling mana reserves won't let them repel against the flamethrowers for long.

Gudao who is also in the fortification tried to find any way to help but can't find anything that he can help in. Suddenly, he received a call from Shadow Border and the caller was Sherlock Holmes.

"Hello, my Master. The reason I'm calling you here is because of the fact that I managed to crackdown the identity of the two Servants. The Archer of Pierce and the Ruler. First off, the Ruler. If you were actually good at Geography then you would have already known that Poland has no ridge at all. No, let me take that back. Even an average person knows that there is no ridge in Poland at all. I find that to be a glaring error that I found myself hard to believe and thus I suspected that this ridge was a creation of a Noble Phantasm. You know that there is a saying said.

_"If you eliminate the impossible, no matter how improbable it is. It has to be the only truth."_

"I suspected that this was a Noble Phantasm belongs to either the Finn or the Ruler but this fight has also given me a valuable clue. Because the Finn has gotten out into the mountainous forest, I doubt any modern Servant has an extreme Noble Phantasm range when it comes to a tectonic altering one. So the Finn got off this one. The second is that I look deep into that Ruler's profile by reading the entirety of WW2 books. Trust me, it is exhausting because I have to look at both the Eastern Front. And there is one story that stood out to me when I look at any clue of the ridge and that is the battle of Okinawa during Pacific Theater. A story about a medic who saved more than a hundred people without a weapon, right inside of the enemy's territory. That man was like a saint in a land that has been consumed by madness and bloodthirst. His endurance, bravery and caring for allies make him a recipient for Medal of Honor. If you take a look at the battle we have before. He never has any weapon in the first place. Because of that, I am certain that man is _**Desmond Doss**__. _The best-known medic of WW2." Sherlock Holmes explained who the Ruler is.

"I see, that explains why he can't harm anybody. It isn't because he doesn't want to but he can't. At least he is doing a really good job of what he supposed to do." Gudao said through the telecom.

"About the old Archer, basing from his attires, I suspect him to be a Servant from the Wild West era like how Billy the Kid is. From and throughout combat that I saw so far, he has no true weapon that can possibly represent his Noble Phantasm. Also, his making of weapons seems to be his virtue like how Shirou is. Excel at making and inventing weapons, even stuff that I hardly believe to be in his era in the first place. So I believe he has been an inventor of sorts in his era. The problem here is, what did he invent?" Sherlock Holmes explained about the old Archer.

"What he invented..." Gudao thought about it.

"Master! Help! Shirou and Kuro collapsed!" A helpless voice changed his attention. A certain white-haired Caster tried to get his attention.

"What! What happened!?" Gudao asks frantically.

"Don't worry! They just exhausted, they just need some rest. But how can we fend off those flamethrowers with limited manpower?!" Doss asked frantically.

Everyone became silent, is this the end for them? Gudao stared silently at the current situation. Pierce just holds the trigger of his pistols, silently looking at the razed ground. All is just the same, Arnold who is the least tired knows that he can't fend off this horde by himself. They fight for so long, they have lost count of everything. Time, kills, bullets, fatalities, all of everything has gone out of the window. Yet, despite the looming despair that was hanging over their heads. They decided to bet it all on one glimmering hope, for one final bet on that _dying light_

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Dying Light**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

"Ugh, where am I? Is this?" The old Archer opened his eyes only to see him floating with pitch darkness surrounding him. It seems like only his 'consciousness' was awake, not his body.

"I'm in this place, guess I'm still alive but as good as dead. Hope they somehow can avert this situation..." The old Archer thought but knowing it is impossible.

_"__No, I'm ...t alone! I w...'t let a..ne die!"_

"_I'm wil... to risk my life sho..d it help e...one surv..."_

"_Give us str...th! I'll t...ke my life if it m...t be n...ded!"_

_"Don't g...ve up! We h...e to beli...e in each ...er!"_

_"I w...'t allow t...se p...ple to be k...ed!_

_"Is t...re any...ng we c... do?"_

And here he is, unable to do anything. Yet his heart aching from seeing how useless he was right now. In the end, even his Master was far more valiant than how he ever could.

**_"Alright, let's do this..."_**

And he heard it, his Master's voice that he heard clearly while others are just like a lost fragment of a bygone memory. A tear dropped from his eye, he hates himself for being too weak. When everything boils down to him, he lets his own past decided his decision. In the end, his past was his own weakness. His past...

"Damn all of this, I have to help him. If I fail to protect even my own Master, then how can I ever be worthy of being a Heroic Spirit. Damn it all!" The old Archer screamed in his realization of his own weakness.

"Wake up now you old ass! I refuse to die now! Not right now!" The old Archer screamed in the surrounding darkness.

And then he sees it, a light that shone upon him. Slowly, that light became so bright that the old Archer's vision soon turns white...

But he doesn't return to that familiar shoreline but instead an old shack, he confused as he can't understand why he returned to a place like this. He checked the surrounding and seeing some 'blueprints' pinned on a board of sorts. He reads the content and then he realized what it is, he quickly averts his eyes from it and tried to push the thought away.

He then looked at the door and opened it which led him into a hallway with windows on each side. He takes a look then he quickly falls off his balance from shock. He then looked at the other windows and the sight is still the same. Corpses, Blood, Death... All of them... everywhere.

Denying that thought, he quickly sprints down the hallway as fast as he could to run away from it. It is like... he is being haunted... But from what?

He then meets a dead end after running for who knows how long. He quickly tried to look for anything, a way out or even a path, he can't accept himself from being standstill.

"Maybe I should turn back and-. No! I swore myself to never use that accursed thing again, it caused all of this. This senseless slaughter, killing. That naiveness of mine is my own worst enemy. Never shall I-" The old Archer said in his head, arguing with himself

He turned around to look for an alternative but then, a presence appeared and he felt his spine shivered in true unadulterated fear. He felt something dripping into his feet, he doesn't want to turn around but his soon curiosity got his best.

He turned around and witness the sight of the worst possible thing that he could see. A skeleton wearing a red cloak that is dripping with blood. The horse that he rides on is stuck simultaneously between life and death. Its body is rotting and dripping blood everywhere, chunks of flesh were ripped from it revealing the majority of its skeletal structure yet with flesh still stuck onto it. There is no doubt about it anymore, he is facing... the Red Rider of the Four Horseman of Apocalypse. He who is dubbed, War. It was as if he is stuck here so that he will face his punishment at the hand of the Red Rider personally.

The old Archer can't help but flinch back against such a sight like this. He steps back one and the Red Rider in front of him steps another one. And then suddenly, the Red Rider said.

_thou seem to continue to avert thy eyes from sooth, maugre the clear fact that thou hast become one of us_

"No, I refused to believe that-" Richard said before he got cut off by the Red Rider once again.

_thou still chose to forswear thy sins. For thou dear to hinder pestilence and letting thy naive thoughts cloud thy judgment. 'i the end, thy hope hath become the damnation that forever stains the scroll of history and laid the foundation that led to e'en ranker bloodbaths. Such a befitting end for thou at the end of thy journey_

The old Archer tried to plug his ears and not listening to whatever the Red Rider is trying to say. He doesn't want to hear of it anymore, he doesn't want to remember the tragedy and the damage that his own naive invention caused.

_Humans are a creature of wrath, yet the like can be spoken to every other else. 'tis only thy kind that thou bring inventions that would marshal't to ranker desires for ranker destruction. Humans shall only reach peace when they erase their own existence with a single nudge._

"Shut up!" He yelled at the Red Rider to stop, he doesn't want any part of it anymore.

_Yet. humans are also a creature of holy, as long as they are content to protect whoever dears to 'em. Nay sacrifice is too great for 'em to try so once they put their minds into it._

And within that moment, he understood. He realized why he made that weapon in the first place. To downsize army so that he could prevent the possibility of an outbreak from occurring. But in hindsight, he ended up also causing greater deads for everyone else. From the pan into the fire, he could say. But did he ever regret his whole life as an inventor? Can he said for sure that only he will discover whatever he invented?

He stood up and then run away from the Red Rider back to where he started, the shed that he has the blueprints pinned onto the board. This is his only chance to repent for what he did and what he failed to do so. Oddly enough, the Red Rider didn't chase him but in fact, actually bidding him farewell

_So thou hast finally accepted thy sin, the first step of changes is aye acceptance. __may thou find good luck 'i thy path_

Quickly returned to the shed, he quickly skims through the blueprints that he considered blasphemy. Knowing this is the last chance he ever gets, he tried to cram as much knowledge as possible. When he finally felt confident that he can recreate the invention again, a light shined through the gaps of the shed door, something has changed and now it is calling for him to go.

He steps forward and opened it. The blinding light shone on him as it takes him back to the reality he wanted

And so... he has finally awakened.

Opening his eyes, the sounds of gunfire is what greeted him first. So many flamethrowers have gotten closes tp their location yet they somehow not firing it already. From what he could see from the closest corpse that is dissipating, there are only 20 meters left before they got close enough and burn everyone into ashes.

"I should have done this from the beginning... I let my own past control my own decision. I let the thought of being a naive fool again blinds me from making the right decision. No more of this anymore. I'll face it with all I have." The old Archer said with determination.

_O' wheel of fate forever turning_

_From a simple wish that turned damnation_

_Forever changing how warfare molded itself_

_Bodies pile up to mountains, _

_Floods of blood turn rivers scarlet, _

_Stenches of death override the horizon_

_Learned that only when extinctions is within a button to press_

_That is only when peace can ever be attained_

_Even when I'm no longer in this world_

_Forced to witness, my own blasphemy upon the heavens_

After chanting the poem, a weapon started to materialize itself in his hands. The brass handlebar appears in his left hand and a grip of sorts appeared in his right hand. Soon the entire gun begins to materialize in his hand. Six barrels made of steel revolve around a shaft, a frame that made entirely in brass. Many cartridges magazines bind to each other like a cylinder that feeds the gun with ammunition. It doesn't take a genius to know what the weapon the old Archer is wielding, it was the Gatling gun. The world's first machine gun and also the weapon that has caused untold destruction in its hay day and became a base to expand for all later machine guns. A weapon born from a naive belief that it hopefully shrink down the sizes of the army only to have it become a catalyst of destruction later.

Base on who the old Archer is, it is no wonder that this weapon became what went against his belief very deeply. He has only invented things that would relieve the burden of everyone's life and make everyone happy. And the Gatling gun inadvertently turned him into a man that forever changed warfare for better or worse. Even back at his era when firearms were present. Strength still plays an important part in the army at the time and firearms make everyone stronger but the Gatling gun makes everyone equal for no man would ever survive getting hit by barrages of unending bullets from it.

There is no doubt about it anymore, the old Archer can only be one person. _**Richard Gatling Jordan.**_ The inventor of the world's first machine gun. The Noble Phantasm he has in his hands is the first Gatling Gun, the weapon that was like a curse on his life. Because he is the man who changed warfare, any Servants of belonging to the era before him will only be considered as "equal" to him as their parameters will be limited to his like how the Gatling Gun makes every soldier equal, anyone after him will take a full rank increased damage from his Noble Phantasm for he is the unwitted progenitor of modern warfare.

_"I have enough of this!" _Richard screams to the top of his lung before unleashing the wrath of his Noble Phantasm.

The gun started to fire the moment it winds up. A single shot blew the ground like an artillery shell, and it isn't one that is being fired. It was a barrage of unending furies, like how the weapon was seen when first introduced. When muskets barely reload themselves, the Gatling Gun has already mowed the entire vanguard and it was a premonition for what WW1 would have become, one of humanity's deadliest conflicts in the history of mankind.

The Gatling gun has reached its maximum fire rate and now it is a storm of artillery shells like how the battle of Verdun of WW1 is, a million shells were fired and this thing will reach beyond that number soon enough. The tide of the battle has turned completely as anyone who tried to walk in will eat a few artillery shells when the defenders before was struggling to keep up.

Soon, Shirou and Kuro managed to wake up from the exhaustion and see that the old Archer has used his Noble Phantasm to fend them all off. They started to pick themselves up and checking the situation by themselves.

"The Gatling gun, then he has to be..." Shirou said when he sees the weapon that is unleashing leads.

"Richard Gatling isn't it? Can't believe that he actually here..." Kuro said when he realized who he is.

The might of the Gatling Gun simply overpower even Kiritsugu's anti-material rifle, even Pierce's squad's firepower. Brass cartridges fall out of the Gatling gun like the raging bombardment that went on the front. The rest of the fighters realized what they are doing is most likely like a broom to a heavy-duty cleaner that is called Richard, they decided to leave the rest to him and getting their chance to take a breath.

"We somehow managed to get back on our feet from such a devastating strike like that, no one would ever foresee that we will ever be attacked by something like that. I'm just glad that we at least got the solution against them at least." Kiritsugu said after he let go of his M82.

"It is just me or the sky is actually less dark than before?" Kuro said when she looks up at the sky.

"It is! Daybreak is going to come soon! Shirou! Checks if the rescue team is here yet!" Iri said to her son when she checked the sky.

"Okay, I'll look around and see if they are close!" Shirou looks at the distant sea on the horizon.

On the horizon, he finally saw it. Decided to use Hawkeye to check for more details, the large ship with an extremely tall mast in the middle and there is a man with a large build who is controlling the ship, about 50 US soldiers whose gears are enchanted are on the boat. They had some destroyer cannons, many enchanted 40 mm anti-air guns installed to the mystical ship to combat against any German ships and planes that trying to hunt them down. The ship itself is way too large for any harbor to take it in. It is also surprising that it also hasn't been found in the first place in its voyage to get here.

"It is the rescue team! Jii-san! Send morse code to them, use anything you had!" Shirou told his dad.

"But we don't have any morse sender nor do they or... Perhaps this could work." Kiritsugu said when he realized he might have something that would work.

Kiri takes out his military signal lamp and aims it at where Shirou said is where the rescue team is. Quickly turning it on and off constantly to send the morse code.

**At the rescue ship**

"Captain Stormalong! I see some light flashing on the ridge over there!" A US soldier told the captain of the ship.

He saw the flashing light that seems to be a pattern of sorts. But the platoon that he brought along seems to know what it is.

"It's Morse code! Somebody translate it, quick!" A US soldier said when he realized what it is

It is a struggling attempt to just getting it right when they miss the first word but they somehow managed to translate it.

_'_We're_ under attack, send fire support'_

"Shit! We're too late! Half of you get into the ATCs and get over there, the remainder will control the destroyer cannons" Stormalong said to his platoon.

The armored troop carriers hanged to the flank of the ship were lowered to the sea surface with soldiers in it. They set out as soon as they land on the water surface.

"Move out!" The carriers move as fast as they can toward the mainland. Seeing many refugees are right below the ridge, they set out their course of action.

The next moment the armored carrier reached the mainland, soldiers came pouring out of it and inquire about what is happening right now and why they are here.

"Please excuse me, sir? Why are all of you here?" A US soldier asked.

"First off, get up there! They need all the help they can get! Second, we're Polish refugees who ran away when Warsaw was fallen when the 'lay-line?' was destroyed thus unable to resupply the Winged Hussars. We only know English because our leader told us to learn it in case we finally can tag along with each other to finally getting the chance to fight the Nazi." The old Polish man said when asked.

"Got it. We'll get up there" The US soldier replied back when he got what to say.

Soldiers began to climb the cargo net that was connecting the top and shoreline, while they were climbing, they see the shells of the destroyer cannons flying toward what is up there. But based on the trajectory, it is definitely not landing anywhere near the edge of the ridge itself. After a while, the soldiers managed to reach the top and finally see everything up there.

A barren wasteland, much like how one would expect from a large scale fight like this, 16 people that they can tell has seen all hardship for more than all their life. And the dying remnants of the last Nazi reinforcement for this raid. Wasting no time, the US soldiers decided to exterminate the last Nazi remnants of this fight. Annihilating those who are trying to kill them.

The 16 remaining fighters who have managed to make it this far, crying from overflowing emotions that they have made it through this hell. Father and son held each other, brother in arms let out all their pended up emotion with unison.

They did it... They made it to tomorrow. All of this happened at the dawn of their new day.

* * *

_**Servants Profile**_

_**Wise up!**_

_**Class: Archer**_

_True Name:__ Kuro Emiya, Chloe von Einzbern |Wise up!|_

_Parameter: Wise up!  
Str: D | Agi: B | End: C | Mana: C | Luck: C | NP: C |_

_Passive Skills:  
-Magic Resistance C: Cancel spells with a chant below two verses. Cannot defend against magecraft on the level of High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals._

_-Independent Action B: It is possible for a Servant to stay in the world for two days without a Master. However, this is the ideal value achieved by maximally conserving mana and avoiding battle and Noble Phantasm usage._

_-Personal Skills:_

_-Eye of the Mind B: _

_Like her brother, insight cultivated from training and learning._

_The "logic of battle" to calmly grasp one's situation and the abilities of the enemy, and find out a mean of escape when in  
dilemma.  
If the possibility of a reversal is 1%, a chance can be pulled out by putting this strategy to practice.  
Something falsely similar to the skill Instinct. Just like her brother._

**_=}(Strengthened) Seven Rings of Heaven (Pre-emptive) A+_**

**_Due to her power being the same as her brother, the only difference is her magic circuit being higher quality than her brother in order to make up for her lack of experience when comparing to him. Because of that, she can deploy her with much faster speed than Shirou thus giving everyone chances to assess the situation and making the next move. Used to buy more time for her allies should the enemy using an extremely powerful attack._**

_-Projection B: _

_Despite having the same power as her brother, her lack of experience with projection when compared to him is glaring and thus is considered weaker than his. Her proficiency with it is not lacking though_

_-Kiss Demon B++:_

_Chloe, a Servant who unexpectedly manifested without a Master, constantly desires prana._  
_As a simple and easy method that does not involve a contract, she favors prana supply by means of contact of the mucous membrane._  
_She ends up becoming a tanned imp who pushes in a kiss scene at any given opportunity, causing the entire living room to freeze. Such thing, however, is unneeded when deployed in combat and having a Master but by using this with a Servant with high mana capacities like her mother or sister in combat situations. She would be able to get back into combat instantly. It still isn't a pleasant thing to do no matter how one can try to justify it._

**_Noble Phantasm_**

**_|Sparks Liner High|_**

**_Rank C - A+++ | Classification: Anti-Unit_**

_A special move that a certain heroic spirit used._  
_An unavoidable, sure-hit combination that projects three sets of the married swords, which possess the property of mutually pulling against each other, and hits with piled-up throws and slashes._  
_Furthermore, since Chloe combines this with teleportation towards the enemy's back, one would have trouble seeing through this even with Eye of the Mind. This Noble Phantasm is ranked as C should she uses this alone by herself_

_In special conditions to acquire A+++ rank, she has to combine her with her brother's Triple Crane Wings so that the Noble Phantasm would become impossible to survive against no matter what even with a suicide charge. This can only be negated with omnidirectional defenses and most don't even able to protect against this_.

**_"""":...:""""_**

_**Pierce's Servant**_

_**Wise up!**_

_**Class:**__** Archer**_

_True Name:_ _Jordan Richard Gatling_

_Parameter:  
__Str: D __| Agi: C __| End: C __| Mana: B __| Luck: D __| NP: A+++ (Wise up!)_

_Wise up!_

_Passive Skills:  
-Territory Creation B: Creation of a 'Workshop' that specializes in firearm weaponry becomes possible._

_-Item Construction C: Able to create enchanted firearms that could harm a Servant, its power becomes higher if they were made within his workshop._

_-Independent Action B+: This Servant can stay in this world without a Master for four to five days. That's if they conserve their mana and avoid combat._

_-Double Summon C: This Servant possesses both skills from both classes Archer and Caster |Wise up!|_

_Personal Skills:_

_-Dauntless Will B: Even in a situation where there's no escape, this Servant will found an escape path of said situations regardless of conditions._

_-Inherent Wisdom B: His knowledge of crafting many various things he invented in his life. Unfortunately, most of them are useless in combat._

_-Progenitor of Modern Warfare A+++: Any Servants before his era will have their parameters limited to 'his' and his attack became unblockable in every sense, any Servants from after his era will receive a full rank damage increase from his Noble Phantasm and attack even when his Noble Phantasm already considered max. |Wise up!|_

**_Noble Phantasm_**

**_|Wheel of Fate| Wise up!  
The Changing Moment of Warfare_**

**_Rank A+++ | Classification: Anti-Army_**

**_The weapon that has changed warfare, for better or worse. This weapon has marked the moment that warfare will be changed and follow its will, even if other weapons can surpass it sooner or not. This thing will always be the king of battlefields once it has made its appearance, even if mythical weapons appeared or not._**

**|_Pack a Punch| Wise up!_****_  
Armaments Reimagined_**

**_Rank A+| Classification: Conceptual Improvement|_**

**_The act of improving on existing weaponry by enchanting and heavy modifications until the weapon itself reaches beyond true potential, this NP suffers a modifier rank down on anything that isn't firearm or considered as one in the first place. Also, he can improve and craft anything that can be used as a weapon of warfare even if it isn't a firearm. Despite the fact that Gatling gun was the only weapon he ever made, its destruction has forever imprinted on the mind of people which let him forge any firearms to his liking like how Semiramis can summon the Hanging Garden of Babylon despite never see it built herself._**

**_"""":...:""""_**

**_The Messenger_**

**_Class:_****_ Archer_**

_True__ Name: "Arnold?"_

_Parameter:_

_Str: C+__| Agi: B++__| End: B__| Mana: D__| Luck: E__| NP: Unk_

_Passive Skills:  
-Independent Action C++: _It is possible for a Servant to stay in the world for one day without a Master. In Arnold's case, as long as he has a duty to carry out, he won't disappear until after his duty is fulfilled for two days.

_-Magic Resistance E: Due to being a Modern Servant, he basically can't resist magical based attacks without fatally crippled if what hit him isn't a Master's attack._

_Personal Skills:_

_-Valor C+: A valiant surviving soldier of what would be called one of the deadliest conflicts in human history should speak some volume of his bravery. Considering that he is a Servant which mean he is a famous soldier in modern time._

_"Unknown"_

_**Noble Phantasm**_

**_"Unknown"_**

**_"""":...:""""_**

**_The Saint of Distant Wartime._**

**_Class:_****_ Ruler_**

_True Name: Desmond Doss_

_Parameter:_

_Str: - __| Agi: B+ __| End: A+ __| Mana: E __| Luck: B__| NP: B+_

_+Passive Skills:_

_-Magic Resistance B: Having a Ruler class container, Desmond has a high magic resistance innately. Due to being a Modern Servant, his magic resistance was limited to B_

_-True Name Discernment C: If summoned as a Ruler, during a direct encounter, a Servant's true name and entire status information will be automatically revealed. In regards to Servants with concealment abilities, a Luck Check is required to bypass those abilities._

_-God's Resolution A: A_ _Class Skill of the Ruler __class and is the privilege of the Ruler presiding over the Holy Grail War; the right to use Command Spells against Servants, only given to Rulers. Each Ruler is normally granted two Command Spells for each Servant that participates in the Holy Grail War. In the situation Desmond was in right now, this skill is useless._

_+Personal Skills:_

_-Backline Extractor A: A skill that allows Desmond to extract someone from danger successfully even if enemy Servants are pursuing him and his patients._

_-Protection of Faith B: A skill possessed only by those who have made sacrifices for a religious view. Despite being a form of divine protection, it is not a blessing from a higher existence. It is the absoluteness of one's body and mind that was born from their beliefs._

_-Undying Will A+: A skill that is similar to Battle Continuation, except that this skill is unique to him for it boosts his Endurance to EX temporarily for when he is saving someone or under attack from a hostile enemy or received grievous injuries._

**_Noble Phantasm_**

**_|Hacksaw Ridge|  
Where All Reach Breaking Point._**

**_Rank B+| Classification: Anti-Pursuit_**

**_A Noble Phantasm that allows Desmond to alter the land through the power of reminiscence to where his name is made. The battle of Okinawa where the most bloody battle in the Pacific Theater taken place. The barren land of Okinawa boosts all of Desmond's parameter except Strength and hindering the enemy should they aim for heavily injured allies or him by an artillery strike that has the power of B+ NP that was aimed at them. This Noble Phantasm actually not kept by Desmond's mana but by the power of God at his side as ridiculous as it sounds. It is made for one purpose and that is to extract everyone out of danger alive should they all failed somehow._**

**_|Healing Hand|  
Curing What Is Thought Impossible_**

**_Rank C| Classification: Anti-Fatality._**

**_A Noble Phantasm that allows Desmond to treat and surgery on his patients with a speed that is even beyond the eyes of Servants. It is thought that those of the descendants of Asclepius is capable of doing this and this power also brings the ability to cure even incurable disease, curse, and even near-fatal wounds._**

* * *

**Author's Note: After such brutally long time and efforts, I managed to finally bring this chapter to you... 31 readers so far. About the future of this fanfic, Gilgamesh did say that the crappiest story is still better than an unfinished epic and so I'll going to bring this story to its conclusion. No worry, there is a lot of historical figure of WW2 to go over and it will not be ending any time soon.**

**Talking about the future, it is unfortunate that summertime is going to end soon and I'll be suffering for the whole year just to get over that university's entrance exam. I just don't like to deal with something like it. I wish that I didn't get depression before finishing high school and not being disillusioned by the reality of life.**


	7. Destination to Unknown

**Warning: ****Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Chapter 7: Destination to Unknown**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Dawn of the new day, at the shoreline**

_**Words of God:**__** For this part, play Fate/Stay Night - Ever-Present Feelings**_

The sun has risen and the flame of war has finally died down, but the damage and destruction left behind has forever changed this place and scarred the memories of the people here.

Everyone is now talking with each other, discussing what has happened and how the entire plan got thrown out of the window midway. The last of Polish refugees taking their trip to the Courser using the ATCs that the US Army has provided for them so they can be relocated to the USA.

Stormalong who decided to remain on the ship so that he doesn't risk himself being annihilated by EKS, the platoon is doing what they were supposed to do, escort the last surviving US soldiers who were supposed to fight the final battle in Eastern Front.

"All of you will be valuable assets in our fight to fend off the invading Nazi. Especially you, Pierce." A soldier of the rescuing team said to Pierce and his squad.

Nine survivors of six nightmarish years that they had to endure, combining with the fact that they had to withstand one last fight that they can't believe themselves to have made it through all in one piece despite how there were many chances that they could have died a gruesome death like how they have witnessed in it.

Nine men who have been brother-in-arms for who knows how long, now lining beside each other talking to the rescue team's platoon leader who has to return them to the USA. The soldiers were all up in tears from how they finally able to go back to their homeland but Pierce only having a blank look on his face as if he is solemnly thinking about his decision about whether to return or not.

"Pierce, you know that your sister on the other side is waiting for you, right?" The platoon's leader said to Pierce.

Pierce sobered up and broke out of his thought, he still has people who are waiting for him back there, especially his sister. But, he can't shake off his feeling that if he decided to return right now, he'll regret it as long as he still lives.

"I... I'll stay. I can't return right now." Pierce said with a keen determination.

"Wait, why are you staying? There isn't anything here that is worth staying here for." The platoon's leader asked back to Pierce.

"I know, but for some reason that if I abandon right here, right now. It would make me felt that I have gone against my own belief and I would never forgive myself for doing so." Pierce said it almost as if with a sad tone.

"Pierce, I understand what you trying to get here but there is a fine line between determination and insanity, and just what are you even trying to gain from doing so?" The platoon's leader asked again.

"Call it a personal thing, you know that each person has their own belief that would forever shape how their character will be like. I wanted to know why and how the Nazis managed to create something that it takes supernatural being to defeat whatever they created, I wanted to know what has happened during all those 6 years of drifting from places to places." Pierce answers with his clear resolution.

"I... I see then. I'll let your sister know, you better come back alive or your sister will kill herself just so she won't let you rest in peace in heaven. We don't even have any masterful engineer and losing her would be a killing blow to the Resistance." The platoon's leader told Pierce about the consequences should he failed to upkeep his promise.

"Don't worry, I'll keep that promise. Until the day I learned the truth of what happened, I'll stay at this place." Pierce ascertain his words again.

"Well, hope you made it through somehow. The rest 8 of you, all of you'll return to America or unless you guys felt that you wanted to follow him."

"No no! We have already gone through enough trauma for multiple lifetimes, we don't have the kind of insane-like determination that Pierce had!" The soldiers quickly panic the moment they heard that.

"Hahaha... Don't worry, once you guys got back there, you will have as much rest as you want." The platoon's leader said which makes the panicking soldiers started to calm down afterward.

"Please don't play with our fractured hearts already." The soldiers said after they calmed down.

The last 8 soldiers of Pierce's squad started to get on the ATC and before they return, they look back at Pierce to see the man who shared in their lifelong hardship.

"Farewell... My friends..." Pierce whispered silently before the ATC started to activate and return to Stormalong's ship.

He looks into the distant sea, seeing that his tour of duty has finally ended and this will be the start of his new mission. The mission to reach the truth of what happened.

"Well, let's see what my old man is doing right now..." Pierce turned to look around for his Servant.

He walked for a while along the shoreline and see that his Servant and many others are building what looks like graves. He understood what is going on instantly when he saw it. In warfare, casualties are unavoidable aspects of conflicts like this. He sees many deaths throughout his time in services but never has he felt empty like this before. The Assassin plunging blades into the ground like grave markers, many of the Finnish refugees are also pitching in to mourn the loss of the people they know.

He looked over many graves as they were dug and filled although there aren't much remains to be found anymore due to the sheer damage that the enemies inflicted on. His heart ached for knowing those people's family and relatives deserved to be treated better than this. They deserved to be living in peace, not stuck in this eternal nightmare of war.

Then he finally found his Servant, the old man sitting on the ground with a sad look on his face, his view overlooks the graveyard itself. He sighed as he felt he is responsible for their deaths.

Pierce approaches his Servant and sits nearby him. For this time, they'll have a heart-to-heart with each other. It is better to let it all out now before it might impede their progress and performance.

"Richard, why do you burden yourself with so much thoughts and what has happened?" Pierce asks his Servant.

"Back in my day, life was extremely hard. It was full of hardship and working with backbreaking jobs. Living conditions were extremely deplorable for only those with a great number of riches can ever live a 'satisfactory' life and that is being optimistic. Seeing it like that, I strived to become an inventor so I can finally lessen the burden of work and life, making things that can improve the quality of life. I even get an MD in doctorate just to know how to deal with smallpox but the heart of inventors override it anyway. I revolutionized agriculture in my time with wheat drills and rice-sowing machines. Even near my carrier's end, I greatly improved the toilet that you would use in modern time." Richard gave an overview of how his life went.

"You sounds like you led a great life at that time but you sounded really sad when you said it. Did you ever felt any regret of taking the path of inventors?" Pierce asked his Servant again.

"All those inventions, I never regret them at all. I never would disregard away my life as an inventor either. But, if there is anything that I truly regret is that greatest achievement of mine. The Gatling gun. I was such a naive fool at that time. Believing that if I could cut down army sizes, I can reduce casualties. I gave my patents to the army before any war started and they disregard it at first away for they considered it a waste of ammo. But soon, the US Army and other nations saw the potential in it and many other inventors quickly improve it and soon they created a gun that surpassed my Gatling gun. But it didn't stop there, the Gatling gun created a trend to create a machine gun that could kill the most in the least amount of time. Even with my Gatling gun, the destruction created by it is unfathomable and I realized that I have created a cataclysm that would soon happen, a prelude of the bloodiest war born from my foolishness. Even if I never going to see it with my own eyes. I realized that once technology evolved faster than tactics, it will be a dire consequence that awaits to happen once the disparity reached its breaking point." Richard said with a sad tone.

Pierce thinks about what his Servant just said, and he nailed on the head exactly what has happened. WW1 was among the bloodiest conflicts in human history and the untold deaths caused by the machine guns was extremely huge although the advent of long-range artillery was what overtakes its kill count. It was until tanks were invented such conflict was swiftly brought to an end. He understood what Richard truly meant.

"Richard... Even if you didn't invent the Gatling gun, there still will be inventors that will create that weapon of war, even if it is not going to be as soon as we know, it is inevitable nonetheless." Richard talks back to his Servant, trying to calm him down.

"Even still, that weapon has gone up heavily against my belief and that pain of mine went with me to the Thorn. In the end, I never able to repay my sin from creating such a thing." Richard said sorrowfully.

"Hey, aren't you the old inventor that helped us?" An old man behind Pierce and Richard said to them.

"What do you want to do with me? I failed to protect all of you, I have sworn to defend all you but letting them slaughter you people like this, look at those graves. I let my insecurities causing this amount of death. I..." Richard said as if he is confessing all of his sins.

"Sir... That doesn't matter anymore, there is no use crying over what has happened. Truth be told, we knew that we would be wiped out of history soon enough if we don't have any help at all. It will be just one-sided genocide if we don't have you helping us at all. Hundreds may have lost but what matters most is that we are still alive in this world. That is the most important part to us." The old man said to Richard

Richard became silent, thinking about what the old man said.

"Nonetheless, I wanted to say thank you for giving us a chance to reach tomorrow. We may never see each other again but please be proud that you have saved all of us with all you have. All I have left to say is, goodbye" The old man said before he headed towards the last evacuation carrier.

Richard is now deep in his thought, for the first time around. He received praise directly for using what he has thought to be his largest blasphemy. It was like a conflicting thought of what he didn't expect between his integrated belief and what he heard.

"Richard, there is something I have to say too. Power by itself is impartial, dependant on the heart of its user. It is just simply an extension of one's soul, as long as you denying it, you will be only shortchanging yourself. I know that if you trying to understand what purpose your power have, you felt uncertainty of what to do but as far as my life has gone. Uncertainty is a far more favorable alternative than standing still." Pierce giving his Servant a piece of his mind.

The moment Richard heard what Pierce said to him, it was as if his mind short-circuited but in the next moment, he felt a great sense of clarity. Realizing his own mistake and 'Achille's heel'. He replied to his Master

"I... I finally see what you mean. To think that a person can resolve this knotted string of feelings in my heart. Very well, if you told me to use my Noble Phantasm, I'll use it with no hesitation. I won't let anything stop me from choosing the best course of action for everyone and you." Pierce told his Servant with all of his heart.

"That's what I wanted to hear. Welcome to the team again, my old man." Pierce said to his Servant.

Both of them laughed heartily with each other, shedding away the horror and pain of the past so that they can together reach for a better future. There is nothing more simple and fulfilling than being with a person who trusts you.

**Back to where Gudao's at**

"I... I'm so fucked, I fucked the entire plan, the whole thing..." Gudao berating himself for having caught off guard by unexpected reinforcement and having the plan thrown out of the window instantly, the whole thing has put a lot of strain on him that he felt he could fell in exhaustion.

"What is bothering you there, mongrel?" The transmission from Shadow Border showing the hologram of Gilgamesh talking to him.

"I... I let the whole thing to blow up, I let so many people died even though I have many powerful Heroic Spirits on my side, I still unable to ensure everyone's safety..."

"Pull yourself up already, mongrel. Don't be ridiculous at a time like this. First off, back during Camelot's siege, we can bring up to 25 Heroic Spirits but this, you were seriously undermanned for this mission. It is a surprise to see you being successful in the defense against that 'Tiger' that they called. Just remember, no plan survives first contact with the enemy. You aren't me, and thus you are prone to making mistakes eventually. You were unable to save everyone's but remember Babylon? Even if just a small number of people survive, as long as there are still people like this. They will be able to rebuild back to their former glory."

"But..." Gudao wanted to say but he got cut off by Gilgamesh soon afterward.

"You made mistakes, that is no denying it. However, what has happened should be left in the past and learn from it, you shouldn't let your failure stop you from moving forward. Now dry your tear and get moving, for this world has never revolved around you in the first place but you will become a better person thanks to it."

"Gil..." Gudao thought for a while then he decided to wipe his tears away. He knew it, if he was like this every time, he would have died long before reaching Lostbelts.

"I'll gather all my strength back, it isn't like me to be like this at all," Gudao said back to Gilgamesh.

"Now that is the mongrel that I knew so long, now get up and finish this mission for once and for all," Gilgamesh said to his Master before turning off the communicator in his side.

"Well, it is clear that we know where to heading next already. Our destination... Berlin." Gudao said after he gathered his heart back.

"Well, someone finally got back on to their right track. So shall we head there now?" Shirou said to his Master.

"Yeah, we'll begin to head there a few hours later, I pulled an all-nighter in that fight and I desperately need an ounce of sleep right now. If Pierce and his Servant ask anything, just let it all out. They will need all every information that could help them." Gudao said before he just sits somewhere and fell asleep right in that positions.

"Sigh, we almost forgot that he isn't a Servant but what he went through almost gave everyone else the impression that he is almost Servant's level tenacity. Well, we can't proceed if he is going to rest so might as well take our time," Iri said when she saw him just sleep like that.

"Hey, so is everyone here yet? When will we head toward there?" Pierce askes while his Servant came along with.

In the next moment, the Finnish with his white coat came back with a wound that has pretty much healed outside although it is clearly painful inside of it.

"Did I miss anything? Because that thing is a force of nature that I didn't expect to get deployed. But holy, that pillar of light in the fight before shows how much power behinds it. I don't know what any of you did but I'm glad that I was not the receiving end of that one." The Finnish said as he walking wobbly from the wound he sustained, he said that he will stabilize soon but not right now.

"Well, good to know. I actually tired right now. Determined or not, staying in good condition is far better than trying to compete with supernaturals despite not being one in the first place. Wake me up when Gudao's does, Ok?" Pierce said before he sits next to Gudao and fell asleep."

"Yeah, the entire thing was pure chaos, I'm not saying that you should be here but that Tiger didn't exactly make everyone's life any easier at all, even Servants like me. At least I saved as much people I can in those moments" Desmond said to his friend.

"By the way, I wondered how you managed to deploy those timeless blades in the first place, it just almost sorcery and magic like to me," Richard asked Shirou about how he made it.

"You know what I said when these things are limited to only our expertise and us alone. It is because I used my father's time crest as a catalyst to remove the concept of time off the blades. If not doing it carefully, it will move with the speed of the Earth's rotation to the west and might kill someone with its sheer speed." Shirou answers the question he is given.

"Wait, concepts?" Richard asked again.

"The world consists of many concepts stacking on top of each other, there can be up to millions of it. What I am saying here is that I try to see how much concepts I can remove without making it breakdown upon itself and using it to my advantage. For example, I can remove the concept of wind resistance and get full unhindered speeds of the arrow I am using. It was literally a brainstorm when I realize I could just do that when my father told me about the memory he received in his memorial essence. It is a chance discovery after all" Shirou answered again.

"Memorial Essence? Can you elaborate that?" Desmond asks Shirou about what he just said.

"The Throne of Heroes consists of limitless possibilities for it exists outside time and space and gathering everything in all timelines, because of that every historical figure can become Servant for myriad reasons which lead us to be able to summon copy despite already have them. When a copy is summoned, it collapses upon itself into a rainbow illuminating sphere with an object or concept which represents that memory itself. It can only be used by the corresponding Servant that it was the same to it. By doing so, they can have access to their weakened alternate selves' Noble Phantasm or having their strengthened. It depends on what was summoned. My father's recent Memorial Essence let him have access to all modern weaponry with a maximum weight capacity that will extract itself depend on the weapon he chose except for the Calico and Contender and the weight cap will reset itself after midnight. The power of the weapons he brought will be ranked depending on its non-Servant variants' power." Shirou gives an infodump on what he said.

Both Desmond and Richard can't understand the concept of what Shirou said and it looks like they can only understand it if they see it for themselves.

"Well, that aside. I still can't understand how the Tiger managed to broke through the timeless blades. I mean, things without the concept of time will remain unchanged no matter what." Pierce asked Shirou about what he felt that it needs to be answered.

"That is what it is supposed to be but we learned that anything with enough Strength or Divinity or both can breakthrough if given enough time. Like Heracles for example, he has A+ Strength and A-ranked Divinity. If he used his Noble Phantasm, he'll breakthrough it in minutes. We thought that nothing in this time period would have enough power to breakthrough but it seems like we were proven wrong." Shirou answered with a sad tone.

"Yeah, mystery supposed to diminish through time but here? I can feel it is rising slowly but surely. I don't know what is behind it but what we know for sure is that this Singularity is going to be no pushover and especially when we were undermanned when it comes to those who are qualified to enter this place in the first place" Kuro said about what she feels.

Richard can't fathom just how large Chaldea can be and how powerful its force. He knew that they supposed to fight against anomalies in timelines and all but this just make him believe that they have fought the like of gods.

"By the way, we should clear up all of the things that just seem to be out of place like how Arnold literally uses a flamethrower against flamethrowers that has flame retardation suits on and what is strange here is that it actually works," Kiritsugu said.

"Now that you said it, I was within the heat of moments and just decided to go with what I think is the strongest and it just works somehow," Arnold said what he thought then.

"Gentlemen, let me explain how it actually works," A voice sounds through Chaldea's Intercom. The voice belongs to Moriarty, the nemesis of Sherlock Holmes who is fighting alongside Chaldea with said Holmes right now.

"When two things clashing again each other, there are two factors which will decide which will overwhelm the others. Mysteries, and mana it contained. Stuff with greater mysteries will overwhelm the other unless said other has high enough mana that it contained. In Arnold's case, the flamethrower he used is one of the first in WW1 thus got greater mysteries than the flame retardation suit they wore. Not even counting the mana he charged into it." Moriarty explained how Arnold use fire to fight 'fire'.

"I see, but it is just me or the flame intensity from each flamethrower that we killed just so... differ? Shirou analyzed that the flamethrowers that they wielded can burn even Demonic Beasts and he can't possibly wrong about that, can he?" Iri asked.

"Hmm... That might probably because it differs from the source that combusts the fuel in the first place, I guess? I mean... There are many ways to ignite the fuel and one of them you surely know that you fired at the fuel tank and making it explodes?" Moriarty tried to find a good enough answer.

"Understandable, it probably only a phantasmal flame if it was fired from the nozzle but anywhere else and it would just be a fire that has enough mana to harm Servants," Kiritsugu said.

"Well, that explains it. We should probably fix all of the 'plotholes' before we move on.

Gudao and Pierce who is resting nearby each other, impervious to what is going on and talk between the Servants. They deserved their own rests for they have done all their best. The sounds of their Servants' chattering became more and more distance until they fall into sweet embraces.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

**_Shadow Border  
__Witnesses of Other Side_**

**"._."****"._."****"._."****_  
_**

* * *

**Back at the Shadow Border**

"HOLY! Never in my life would I see something like that!" Illya said when she walks out of the observation room.

"Well... War has always been unpredictable, something like this could happen isn't out of the possibilities." Sitonai said.

"At least our family made it out, right?" Miyu said after she made out of the Observation room.

"That's true but if we think about it. There were so many times when death could have happened to our family due to unexpected circumstances." Sitonai replied.

"Hold up! Isn't it Waver-san?" Illya said when she saw someone she think she knows.

Waver who is standing alone in the hallway, putting his back against the wall. He has a sad look on his face, most likely from what has happened in that singularity.

"Waver-san, are you alright?" Illya asked him.

"Oh, I'm alright, just leave me alone, okay?" Waver replied.

"Uh, okay? But you look really sad. Do you feel sick or something?" Illya asked him again.

"Ugh, I'm Chaldea's most trustworthy tactician and yet I'm unable to secure a safe victory for my Master. My own lack of foresight leading the team to almost being defeated. Death could have occurred and I swore that I could have prevented it if I was with my Master. It just, it is hard to forgive my own incompetence for that..." Waver let out his bottled up feelings.

"Waver-san..." Miyu sighed.

"My retainer, you shouldn't be looking down on yourself right now," Iskandar said to Waver while standing right next to him. It seems that Waver was too deep in his thought that he didn't notice the man whom he aspires to.

"Wuh! My liege!? What are you doing here?" Waver said in surprise as he looked at Iskandar.

"Dear lord... The entire mess in that singularity wasn't your fault in the first place yet you are trying to burden yourself too much of it. I should have also known that warfare has always been unpredictable and that tiger-head archaism is an unknown factor in the first place. All of us tacticians have our fault in the failure of our plan." Iskandar explains to his retainer.

"But... but..." Waver answered back to Iskandar with uncertainty.

"We may have suffered losses, our plan may have been declared unusable from the surprising reinforcement. But our Master has made through nonetheless with no casualty which is the most important right now. You should be glad, not punching yourself for being incompetence." Iskandar said to Waver.

"But, my liege. How can I accept your apology." Waver said.

"If you felt like you can't accept my apology then how about this? You'll push yourself to become better next time. What happened shouldn't be things that to be distraught over but things to take a lesson and learn from it. From there you can strive to become better. Because after all, we men are creatures that become better from our mistakes. What doesn't kill you make you stronger after all." Iskandar explains to his retainer with a charisma that is beyond any human capability.

Waver thinks for moments while Iskandar is waiting for his answer. Within his thought, Waver started to crack a small smile, understanding what Iskandar is trying to say.

"I see now. I'll strive to be better, that last failure shall be the last time I make such a blunder like this. Thank you, my liege for showing me what to do right now." Waver said before he walks along the hall with a much better mood than before.

"Sigh... It is a wonder that we managed to make it all the way here without seeing a single death. It is more than a miracle how our Master can even survive all the shit that was thrown at him till now. But I guess that is what makes him better than most magus can ever come close." Iskandar said to himself."

"Well, it is good to see you, Mr. Iskandar. But what are you doing here?" Illya asks the man himself.

"Well, just passing by until I saw all of you and my retainer but since I'm here anyway, I'm just going to say ' have a good day'," Iskandar said with a smile.

Shadow Border is still lively as always.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**The Meeting of the SS**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Somewhere at the SS headquarter**

_"So let me get this straight... You failed your duty... again..." A voice that has been distorted said to a certain man._

_A blinding light shines upon the figure of a person, a light that is so blinding that the shadow that it cast only reveals the silhouette of a person. Except for the light, everything else is shrouded in darkness._

_"Yes, I know my punishment with this one... It is death, right?" A voice that is distant yet familiar was said, there is no hint of fear but a stalwart will that remain unchanged._

_"While your failure is indeed unforgivable, the council has no right to execute one of its members without Furher's permission. And we haven't received anything in his end so far and so you will be staying here until your judgment is given." The distorted voice said to him._

_"Haha, you first separate me from my duo and expecting me to fight well? Plus, you aren't even there to see the shit show that they made." The man shows the shit-eating grin of his._

_"Silence, show what you have seen there and we may rethink your punishment. If Furher is willing to pardon your failure only then will you get to be free." The distorted voice said back with a fury._

_"That 4000 'elite' soldiers you sent were almost annihilated under the first 4 entering Servants alone. A tanned-skin bowman shrouded in crimson, a little girl who appears to be the same as him and wearing a much more skimpy version of his clothes, a dark red assassin who using firearms that don't seem to belong to this era a9nd a maiden whose white dress makes her like an angle. I tried to fire at them for almost every time, they managed to block my attack with theirs. I decided to resort to using my 'secondary Noble Phantasm' and I found out that they are stronger than how even most Modern Servant can be." The man said back to the source of the distorted voice._

_"Oh? Then explains..." The voice said back to him._

_"How do I explains this? A shield that consists of 7 petals appeared. Blocking every shot I fired at it. No matter how one looks at it. It is impossible for any Modern Servant to be capable of doing this at all. I can understand the Assassin but anything else, it just unreal." The man said back._

_"So we assumed that we were right to send more units but in the end, we lost all of them, especially the Tiger. And now, the EKS won't update itself until about 2 weeks, we might have done it too soon or perhaps we are too late now. Explains how they managed to attain the power to destroy the Tiger in the first place." The voice ominously said to him._

_"I don't know what exactly did they use but even when I have gotten a distance away from them, whatever they used caused a pillar of light to blast from where I saw. But since there is nothing return from the infernal wall, I assumed the Tiger and its operator, a Grand Cross are dead from that 'Noble Phantasm'" The man said with an unshakable conviction._

_"You have done well to assume from that, just like from the report, there is indeed no survivors on our side. All of our 'combatants' are dead just from that 4, I assume?" The ominous voice said back to him._

_"From my perspective, there wasn't just 4 of them that I mention, there are also 9 brass and steel armored units that have enhanced armaments to take down any of the closings in Azure Soldiers. They weren't at the top of my priorities so I just leave them alone, it's not like they could stand up against Servants in the first place." The man said to the source._

_"9 soldiers? Is there anything else?" The ominous voice asked._

_"There is also this old man who uses outdated firearms and this one US soldiers whose reading just point him out to be a Servant. And the most important thing is, our defect has also come to their side." The man said everything he knows in that fight._

_"The defect? Haha... I see... This is going to be interesting." The voice said in a way that is unnerving when heard._

_"Huh, what? I see... You who are being judged, it seems like luck has chosen your side for you have received our Furher's pardon. You better savor it for you won't be so lucky next time. You will have to pull your weight should you wish to be alive." The ominous voice said with a tone that is somehow making it even more unnerving than before._

_"Tsk, I don't care about prestige or wealth, I just wanted to live a life like a normal person. Until then, I'll have to keep this facade should I wish to live. Oh, my old friend. I wished that I could be free to drop out but it seems like it won't be anytime soon." The SS Archer thought before the light that shines upon him turned off and makes the entire surrounding fall into the deep darkness._

_He remains silent as he fell into its dark embrace..._

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Destiny**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Back at the ridge or where it used to be**

*gasp* "Damn, we are already having lunch here?" Pierce asked while he was just waking up recently.

"Well, you and my Master are human after all. Staying in the top shape is essential for both of you so have a bowl." Shirou said to Pierce with a carefree smile.

"Yeah, thanks... I'm just wondering how did all of you become family in the first place..." Pierce asked the tanned chef with curiosity.

"If this was a year and a three fourth ago in Chaldea's time. The idea of having a loving family won't even cross my mind since most of us are incapable of reaching the Throne through normal means. I was among the first of Servants in Chaldea along with a few who answered Chaldea's call." Shirou answered with his lighthearted spirit.

"Well, can you tell me how you met the rest of your family members?" Pierce asked Shirou for the answer.

"I first met my mother in a Singularity that is very much different than this one, it set around 1994 where the 4th Holy Grail War takes place in secrecy. The things there are different for my mother were supposed to be sacrificed into the Holy Grail that grant wishes, however, the Greater Grail was corrupted since the 3rd thus making any wish turn into annihilations that kill as much human as it can and thus Chaldea has to intervene. My father was present but not as Chaldea's Servants but as Counter Force. His mission was to kill my mother to prevent the Grail from manifesting while I and Waver who is also a Chaldea's Servant came to resolve it with the least amount of Servants casualty as possible." Shirou explained.

"That must be really strange or awkward to see your father like that," Pierce commented while listening to his story

"At that time, I was shocked to see the man whom I borrowed the ideals from, I know damn well the end of the path I have taken and so was his. We ended up clashing with each other as I outwit him many times for knowing him deep down to his core. He back then has no memory of being my father at all so I have to push my feeling aside to push him back. In eventually, we managed to fight along with each other in our supposed final battle against the corrupted Greater Grail." Shirou said his story in the Singularity that shapen who he is now.

"Damn, to think that the world can go stranger just unreal," Pierce said what he thought.

"In our final battle, we finally facing the corrupted Grail, All the World's Evil manifested in the form of my mother. Let me tell you though, it is not pretty at all. I who was a Counter Guardian got exempt from being consumed by its corrupting mud and my father who is the same as we duked it out against the evil that would doom humanity. It was a tough fight but in the end, we managed to push it back to where it belongs, hell. But of course, knowing how the world works, it would be oblivion." Shirou said with a smile despite what he portrayed is nothing beautiful at all.

"But how did your mother became a Servant?" Pierce asked.

"Beats me. Not even our strongest and most knowledgable mages know, I theorized that the material inside her that supposed to turn her into the Holy Grail ended up linking her in the Root thus granting her the power of a Servant and Third Magic. Her Noble Phantasm allows those under her NP's effect will always survive one fatal blow no matter what it is. At least that is what I know about her Noble Phantasm so far." Shirou explained about his mother.

"What about your father?" Pierce asked.

"My father was summoned shortly after the Singularity is resolved but once again, he has no memories of being my father. That's not until his memory essence also come shortly after he was summoned. When he received it, he almost has a cognitive dissonance and locked himself in his room for days. Until about a week or two, he finally opens up and accepts the memories and emotions that it brings. For a person who was devoided of his emotion for so long, it is like addictive like a drug. In eventuality, he finally opens up and accepts being a father." Shirou said.

"I see, but that begs the question. How did you know that they were your parents in the first place." Pierce asked after hearing his story.

"You know what would have happened should the 4th Holy Grail War left alone and to its own accord?" Shirou said with a face that belongs to a person who is about to bring back his darkest memory.

"Wait, you don't mean..." Pierce finally realized how much meaning that Singularity must have held to the Servant he is talking to.

"Albeit the timeline I came from was different from this Singularity, the 4th Holy Grail War was the furthest thing my mind able to reach even till now and it was my darkest part in life that started it all. I was an orphan who lost everything in the fire caused by the corrupted Grail. I trekked and crawled through the blazing heat that swallows everyone and everything I could see. I sacrificed every part of my soul just for the wish of being alive until I collapsed and waiting for death itself. That was what supposed to happen until a man who looks like need to be saved more than myself came to help me, he was holding onto something that shines with noble gold and blue enamels. The next moment, he implants it into me who was on verge of death and it was the only thing that saved me at that time. In eventuality, he and I became father and son until he died a few years later from being cursed by the corrupt Grail in the 4th Holy Grail War." Shirou tells the story revolved around his childhood or if he ever has one in the first place.

"Damn, I don't know what you did to become a Servant. But that is pretty depressing to hear your story like that, to lose your chance of having a normal life over a cursed magical entity that you didn't even know existed." Pierce said after hearing what Shirou said.

"A lot of things happened in my past but at least in Chaldea, I can follow my ideal with all I had, my father could say the same but..." Shirou said before he decided to stop himself from saying his own personal problem.

"But what?" Pierce asked when he heard the word 'but'.

"It is nothing, it just my own tiny problem. Even if you were part of Chaldea, there is nothing you can do with it. I'm the only person who can solve this problem that persists in my heart." Shirou said while trying to hide his secret.

"I see..." Pierce think for a moment after hearing what he said.

"Onii-chan! Master just woke up, shall we proceed with our mission?" Kuro suddenly jumped into their conversation, trying to inform them that Chaldea's Master has awakened.

"Oh, I see. I'll prepare for him soon enough." Shirou said to his sister and pull himself up to get to his Master's position.

The drizzling rain still captivating him, while he misses the height of Desmond's ridge but this is beautiful in its own way to him. For some reason, he just looks up toward the sky while the drizzle falls on him. His vision stares toward the heaven beyond and he knows that his duty as a soldier still haven't ended yet.

_I'll do this, with all I have_

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Berlin Offensive - Recommence**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

"Our destination... Berlin." Gudao said as he commences their operation. To search for the center of this anomaly.

"Since all of our transports were destroyed by this point, all we can do is hiking our way to it. Da Vinci, How long is the distance from here to Berlin?" Shirou asked for more information.

"Well, if we calculate it from modern Europe's map. It is about 400km, assuming you will go straight to it. In singularity, however, Shiba can't pick up anything under that storm but by calculating it from the diameters, its eye is right on top of Berlin. Because of that, It further proving the fact that Berlin is most likely the source of the Singularity." Da Vinci said.

"Plus, we have already inside the defense circle so it just leisure walk from here, right?" Kuro said mischievously.

"I kinda doubt that considering the destruction of the part of that circle about a week ago yet they still going on strong. Plus, that wall is way too distance from Berlin and seeing their military from our experience first hand, I doubt that is the only circle we have to get over." Kiritsugu gives his ideas from his knowledge so far.

"Then if we continue the path to Berlin, we will encounter the second defense circle, not before long" Iri said after hearing what Kiritsugu said.

Arnold is there closing his eyes and thinking about something, he felt that something doesn't seem to be right in this part. He felt something but he can't put it into words.

"We might have to get on soon enough. All of our 2 Masters are awakes and any seconds we spend standing like a duck here could be used to advance towards Berlin. They might even send more of those Azure Soldiers here." The Finn said to his allies.

"Well, he is at least right in that department. Shall we get our feet on?" Gudao said to his Servant.

And so the renewed team consists of 2 Masters and 7 Servants begin their journey toward the center of this Singularity.

Their path may fill with thorns and interlopers but this is the path that they have chosen and they won't stop until they unravel the truth of what has happened.

Without any transport, the only way to make it there is just walking. If not blocked by anything or anyone, they could make it there in 4 days if they decided to ignore their own health and keeping their pace without rest which is impossible by any standard. Because of that, their journey will be a long one.

After a while, they finally make it out of the deep forest and finally see the sign of civilization or to be exact, the remain of it.

"Guess everything that isn't Berlin has been purged in Europe. Not that it is surprising in the first place considering what the enemy has in store." Pierce said as he sighed from seeing the ruin of a town that he saw.

"Everybody, look!" Kuro said as she saw something from a considerable distance away.

"A defensive wall but something doesn't seem right. It was as if it has been desolated for a long while." Iri said.

"Shall we check it our?" Gudao said.

"Considering that we haven't encountered any Azure Soldiers yet, I would say we should at least checking it out." Shirou gives his opinion of the situation.

The squad decided to head to where the wall is located. As they thought, the area in front of the wall is a desolated open field where there is almost nowhere to hide should they aimed at you. But what caught their attention is that the large wall in front of them has been busted out entirely, like how Gudao's team saw the first one.

"I don't know what this wall is but I can tell that it used to have a tremendous amount of power put into it. They must have tried their hardest to build an impenetrable defense like this. But guess it was no match for what it was against, be it a Servant or not." Desmond said after he takes a quick look at it.

"I can see what you trying to get at, it is hard to think even a Servant would ever manage to breach this let alone any army at all" Pierce commented about what he saw there.

"So my suspicion was true then..." Kiritsugu said.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Richard asked the man why he felt suspicious.

"Before we see this one, we have seen the other one too, the outer most wall that is also destroyed like how this one is. The destruction that was left behind there isn't much different than this one, anyone who could have done this mush has an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm and a powerful one at that in order to do this. As far as I know, there isn't any 20th-century historic figure that has destroyed a fortress at all." Kiritsugu said his hypothesis.

"While that is true, can you elaborate on how exactly will that affect us?" The Finnish asked.

"Someone powerful like that couldn't die from the mobs that we fought, it is very possible that whoever it's is inside there. Sooner or later, we will encounter that individual. Whether that person is hostile or not is up to divine above if they are still there." Kiritsugu said what he suspected to be behind the destruction of this line.

"I could totally see that, I just hope that person won't be killing us just because we look suspicious," Desmond said.

"Whether we will meet them or not should be left to the future, what we should do is moving inside." The Finnish said to his allies.

"I don't know, something about this doesn't seem right... I mean... Such an expansive wall like this got desolated just from this tiny crack compare to how large and long this defensive circle actually is. If the German is gonna do something, they should at least repair it instead of leaving it like this." Kuro said her doubts.

What Kuro said makes sense. In common sense, whenever someone's defense line got damaged, they should get it repaired as soon as possible, not desolate it like that.

"Something is really wrong here, their actions conflict with common sense is telling us that something doesn't look like how it appears. This singularity can possibly be more dangerous than everything we have faced to this point." Gudao commented after hearing his Servants's analysis.

Arnold just stares straight into the broken wall, his feeling hasn't stayed silent for long as if it is telling him that there is much more to see than what meets the eyes. He decided to take another good look at the top and realized that his instinct hasn't betrayed him. He sees it, the white hawk from much before, he hasn't seen it since last week and its appearance here signifies that whatever Servant behinds it is closeby or that is what he believed so.

"Arnold? What are you doing?" Gudao asked why Arnold is staring at something until he saw the answer for himself.

The white hawk flies away into the inside of where the second line held. Whatever is in there will be a mystery for them as far as they concerned.

"That thing! It flies into the territory inside!" Gudao said as he saw the hawk for himself.

"It seems like whoever is behind that hawk is definitely inside there," Kiritsugu said.

"Let's go, everyone! Follow that hawk!" Kuro followed up.

Everybody picks up their speed and runs through the gaping opening in the wall. The wall itself was very thick, about 60 meters of reinforced concrete that used to be enhanced by being charged with mana. Right now, it is just concrete that has no special value of itself.

Arnold who is running with the team at surprisingly fast speed. Suddenly, he heard something, the voice of someone, the voice of a little girl.

_**Find me...**_

The next moment, he came into a complete stop, confused by what he has just heard. Shirou who is running ahead of him noticed that Arnold stopped running.

"Arnold? Is something wrong?" Shirou asked Arnold.

"Um... Did you heard a voice near you?" Arnold asked reluctantly.

"None as far as I concerned, us Servants can hear even smallest noise if we focused on it," Shirou answered.

"Can you use your ability to scan this part of this ruined place?" Arnold asked Shirou again just to be sure.

"We can't be too careful huh? Not that we have can ever retry in the first place." Shirou said before he uses his Hawkeye on the ruined encircling fortress itself.

Shirou's eyes turned into the color of cold silver looking at everything with almost complete detail on anything he sees but the result is still the same. Nothing is here but pure concrete.

"There is nothing but at least it is safe to assume we won't be ambushed by anything," Shirou said after checking his surroundings.

Arnold became silent, he simply can't explain what he has just heard at all. He doesn't know if his mind is playing tricks with him or there is actually something here but he thinks it is better to not raise the topic up for now.

"Sorry, it probably was just my imagination..." Arnold apologizing for wasting his ally's time.

"No, that isn't something you have to apologize for... Plus, it is you who found that hawk which we are chasing right now. All Archer-classed Servants must have a keen insight in the first place so you probably just acting upon something that you felt is wrong." Shirou said to his fellow ally.

"Okay then. Shall we move on?" Arnold quickly followed up and then reach toward the other side along with Shirou.

_And the rain started to fell more heavily as if it is a premonition of what is to come_

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Second Ring - Sprinkle**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

They finally see what is inside of the second circle for themselves, it is as ruined as the town from before.

"I think it is safe to assume that Servant with Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm is a hostile one," Kuro said.

"Actually, it is still too soon to assume that. When I used my Structure Grasping, these buildings were corroded over time from not being maintained at all, not to mention, these buildings have been destroyed around 7 years ago and have never been rebuilt since." Shirou gave his analysis after checking out the ruined buildings nearby.

"It seems that Hitler has been expanding too much that he never bothered about rebuilding, it is easier to steal others' property than rebuilding what is destroyed. But this is just nonsense to do so on a large scale like this." Pierce said.

Arnold is still staring at the destroyed scenery, it reminds him much of his memory in that war, ruined buildings everywhere as far as he can see, the rain that carries the sorrow of this hell that he lived through.

"It is just me or the rain seems to be raining heavier than before?" Gudao asked.

"Now that you saying it, it rained a bit heavier than before. Albeit it was slightly, it seems to be a sprinkle." Iri said after hearing what her Master said.

"Then it is clear now, the further we moved in, the rain will worsen over time and the further we move in. Soon, we will be facing a massive storm that can heavily hamper our Master's movement." Kiritsugu said.

"We will be dealing with that if we made it there. For now, we have to chase that hawk and see if it belongs to anyone. We could potentially have another ally who will help us fight such a threat like this." Gudao said.

"If said 'ally' doesn't attempt to kill us the instant we saw each other," Kiritsugu said.

"Not that we have any better choices, we were severely undermanned and there is no leyline here at all. It is either doing that or possibly die attempting to breach through the third ring." The Finnish said with assurance.

Suddenly, that white hawk returned and dropped something on them, it was a piece of paper of sorts and something is written in it.

_"I have already known all of you for a considerable long time and I see that all of you seem to doubt whether or not all of you can trust me. Here is what I have to say, follow the white hawk and all of you will reach my destination. We'll consider alliance there. It is up to you to whether or not to head to my location."_

"That person has already known about us? Damn, that was careless of all of us." Gudao said.

"At least that proven one thing, they could have easily wiped all of us since the first day yet decided to make an alliance with us. It is really unlikely they are trying to lure us into a trap." The Finnish said.

"You know... You can actually tell a person who they are by analyzing their handwriting, this actually belongs to a person with a past that they can't ever let go themselves, compassionate and sensitive but lack feelings in it. It is almost like they had resigned themselves to fate. Of course, I know some people can even fake their feelings and their handwriting but I could at least tell if it is forced or fabricated or not." Richard said when he analyzes the handwriting on the piece of paper.

"Well, we gotta at least check out whoever this person is, there must be a good reason for such a person like this to ask for an alliance from us," Gudao said.

In the next moment, the hawk flew away in the direction, the squad quickly follows it to see whoever is behind it. In a hazy rain it goes, so is the path of perils they walked.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Steel-forged Maiden**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

They have pursued the hawk for a considerable distance and it seems like the hawk was intentionally slowing down so that they can catch up. It is clear that whoever behinds it truly wanted to meet them.

Suddenly, they heard gunfire, there is fighting nearby.

"Did they got into a fight with something?" Pierce said before the squad reached where they would see the source of the gunfight.

A girl with short curly blond hair, skin as pale as snow, wearing a WW2 soldier's attire is fighting those Azure Soldiers. She wields an Stg44 Assault rifle and returning fire towards the Azure Soldiers that caught sight of her.

With her surprisingly good agility, she easily evaded oncoming hail of bullets without fail like the mist of falling dusk. Meanwhile, her aiming was infallible as far as they can see. Those mystical soldiers stood no chance against her as she is graceful yet lethal at the same time.

The team can only see and let things flow by itself for they might obstruct her more than helping her right now. However, Arnold for some reason got captivated by her, something inside him felt strange that he can't put it into words. He felt like he is resonating with her like both he and she sharing the same wavelength.

Only in the next few moments, the fighting died down and the azure ashes flow through the air. She stands there as if looking at somewhere distant while her white hawk flies toward her. Like a duo they are, she extended her left arm and the hawk landed on it. It seems that they can actually talk to each other despite they are a bird and human. In the next moment, the girl turned toward and greet them.

"It seems this is the first time we meet each other in person, aren't we?" The blond-haired girl said.

"That is true. How long have you known about us?" Arnold asked.

"About 5 days, and I have known you for like a week ago before any of those guys near you." The blond-haired girl answered back.

"Wait, you encountered the white hawk long before use?" Pierce asked.

"That is also true, I know there is something suspicious about that hawk but I can't fathom it was you who control it," Arnold said.

"In warfare, information is the most important thing to attain victory and scouting is one way to attain it. Now, let us get to the point. I wanted to make an alliance with all of you." The blond-haired girl said.

"Hold up, I wanted you to give me a good reason for doing so, you who is capable of destroying that wall there is asking for an alliance? It just suspicious no matter how you see it." The Finnish said.

"I can see you asking me about it but destroying defensive location is the only fort that I have, anything else just averages at best, Azure Soldiers are simple enough but against Servant and I couldn't possibly keep up with that. I can stay elusive using my friend here. Say hello to them, Silbern." She answered the question and said to the hawk who is sitting on her left arm.

"Scree, scree..." The hawk said to them which is unfortunate that no one in the team has Animal Communication skills except for the blond girl.

"Umm, okay? It is nice to know you, Silbern. Can we know your name?" Gudao decided to speak for the team.

"Well, I don't think we have enough trust in each other yet to speak it so lightly but you guys can call me Alfin." The blond girl said to them.

"Understandable, can you convince us that we could trust you watching our back and we doing the same?" Gudao asked Alfin again.

"I can't show off my Noble Phantasm nonchalantly in a place like this, not when I have a target or the situation is critical. But I'll promise that I won't betray any of you. While we are on the path to the 3rd ring, I'll answer any questions that I can answer." Alfin answered resolutely.

"I see, um, how many of these rings are there will stop us on our path to Berlin?" Gudao asked.

"Based on the intelligence that I managed to gather so far, there are a total of 5 rings like this and the further you go in, the worse the weather. You see that in the previous ring, there was only drizzle, now it is a sprinkle. You can tell that right?" Alfin said.

"That is true, but we couldn't imagine it would be like this. I know that there are far stronger storms in humanity's history but this one is extremely peculiar and strange." Kiritsugu said.

"I have another question, what would happen if the defensive wall like what we saw before was destroyed?" Pierce asked.

"That is a good question. If the wall was destroyed with a scale that you saw, the mana that reinforced it will be disrupted and wane over time. Give it 2 days and it is just an ordinary wall and anything can just go over or through it, if it still left behind like that and from my assumption, it seems like it is still the same a week ago when I destroy it, right?" Alfin answered.

"That is also true, but it is also strange that the Nazi would leave it like that until now." The Finnish said.

"I also wanted to ask, how many Azure Soldiers are here patroling?" Desmond gets his chance to ask.

"For now, not much to make a threat, but the further we go in, we will be soon flooded in them and The Nazi's Servants will join the fray too" Alfin answered.

Many questions were asked and the team is now heading to the 3rd ring. It seems like this will be a stroll in the park for them but nothing was ever simple. For when one's sin became an unknown cataclysm that is awaiting to happen to others.

**Somewhere a considerable distance away**

"So we meet again, my old sworn enemy." The voice of an old veteran was said.

"That is the man who destroyed motherland and genocide our people you said, huh?" A woman replied.

The woman that the veteran is talking to is a Servant. How he obtains her? Nobody but him knows, but he only has one purpose and that is to kill the man who destroyed the country that he fought for. 'Russia' which is now a wasteland that hardly anyone can live. As if millions of innocents were forced to be burdened the sin brought by a single madman that was in power of the nation itself. That very same madman received the most painful and agonizing death that none could describe by words by that very same demon. He was powerless against that monster but now he has the mean to do so.

"Back in that fateful day, back when the sudden retaliation of the evil of Third Reich managed to slaughter millions of us with ease. We were suddenly forced to retreat when we were so close to victory. They pursued us to Moscow and when I see that demon for myself, for the first time in my life have I ever witness such a fearsome force in one man like that. And for the first time, I concede my defeat from that evil." The old man said as if facing a million wars is better than ever witnessing what he saw then.

"If it weren't for the fact that I seen the wasteland myself I would never believe that such a monster like that was allowed to exist, even I can't fathom how many lives were lost over one's uncontrolled rage." The woman said back.

Just take a look at that woman and you could instantly tell she is a Russian, her tall figure, her curly silver tinted hair flows with the wind and the ushanka and trench coat she wore only add more to the obviousness.

"Hey there, my sister... How are you doing?" The voice of a late-30 man was heard.

"For the last time, just because we have the slightly identical surname doesn't mean I'm related to you in the first place." The woman said back to where the voice comes from.

A soldier with a bushy beard comes with his Servant, a young man who wore the old uniform belongs to the Red Army, carrying a rifle in his hand. He carries an aura that anyone could tell doesn't belong to a normal person.

"Come on, what is wrong with a little lighthearted conversation in a time like this?" The bearded soldier said heartily.

"While that is certainly needed in a time like this. We about to get on to our next step, we will finally hunt down the sinner that brought our motherland to its ruin." The old veteran started rousing everyone's spirit up.

"Dimitri, tell your Servant to surround the vicinity that I saw them, anywhere that would grant him vantage point." The old veteran said back.

"Got it," Dimitri replied.

"And you, you will follow Dimitri's Servant command so that we will corner and hunt that sinner and his group." The old veteran said to his Servant.

"Understood." The woman said back.

The old veteran chuckles when seeing his plan about to go to motion. It is almost as if he spent his entire life just to find his own revenge. And just before he started to let his plan in motion he said what he finally wanted out loud.

**"My name is Reznov! And I shall have my revenge!"**

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, I finally got this out before I would never get any chance to write for very long. School sucks and what comes after is even worst. I just hope that I would get my chance to write when I finally sorted all of it out. After I'm done with it, it will just be homerun from here on out. Stay tune if you are still reading this.**


	8. Hexagonal Siege

**Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

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**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Chapter 8: Hexagon Siege**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

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**Back to where the team is at**

"You said that anyone can enter through the wall after 2 days of its destruction?" The Finnish asked the blond-haired girl again.

"Yeah, and by anything, I mean anything. That walls you passed through are just now normal concrete and it poses no harm towards anyone" Alfin said.

"They just built something extravagant that held no real practicality, but I guess it is just what German always be like, make something too complex for a normal human," Pierce said.

"You're not wrong about it, that is what I could tell the least," Arnold said as if he got a firsthand taste at it.

The team keeps moving through the ruined urban area with sprinkle rain that covers further than the horizon. Under such a condition like it, there will be bound off somebody who will take advantage of it and ambush them.

The Finnish who is walking ahead of the team in a considerable distance, scouting for any potentials enemy. But little did he know that he is their target.

"Gah!" A sharp pain course through the Finnish body, starting from his feet. He quickly fell to the ground from the sudden attack that struck him unprecedently.

But even then, he still keeps a clear mind and the pain it gives remind him of something, something that stuck in his distant memory.

"Let me help you!" Desmond quickly comes to his side.

The Finnish realized what this tactic is, realizing just from the pain he has, he quickly tries to stop his friend from getting near him.

"Stop! This is a trap!" Before the Finnish said all of it, he heard another shot and what followed up is silence, that it's, just silence.

"Someone is here, everybody! Get to hiding, I'll take him somewhere safe." Desmond realized what it is from that shot, it is not a fire sound of anything, it was a misfire.

The next moment, everybody quickly hides among the ruined building. They were all split up and disconnected from each other, except for the connection of Masters and Servants, they all are oblivious to anything else.

_"Archer! Use your Hawkeye to check where is the shooter at!" _Gudao telepathically communicated with his Archer, Shirou.

_"Got it, Master" _Shirou replied the same way back to him.

The tanned Archer quickly takes a look but before he gets to see anything properly, a shot came to pierce his head cleanly. Shirou managed to evade said attack but that wasn't just one in the direction he peeked. He got hailed in by many shots that pierced through the wall of the ruined building they stayed in.

"Damn it!" Shirou said before tracing his twin swords to deflect said bullets but when he struck the bullet with his blades, the blades shattered in one hit. Seeing the power behinds the said bullet, he realized that the only thing that has such power is Servant and multiple hostiles Servants are trying to kill them off.

_"Master! Breakthrough adjacent houses! We have to split up or they'll kill us, this decayed wall won't stop them!" _Shirou replied telepathically towards his Master.

_"Got it!"_ Gudao replied telepathically back.

Heard what his Servant told him to do, Gudao realized he has to act soon or else. Channeling mana through his arm, he uses Reinforcement and utilizing his Mystic Code for extra firepower.

"Phantasmal Reinforcement!" Gudao said at the top of his lung before he punched the wall that he believes to be connecting toward the next ruined building.

With all his might, he shattered the wall with his bare reinforced strength alone, a Servant could probably destroy a house like this just by breathing at it so it isn't surprising to them. After he managed to do so, he started to come charging through the ruined building and repeated the same process, he'll need to stay nearby his Servants so that they can fight more effectively.

_"Archer! Tell everyone to split up into three groups and take down the marksmen before they take us down." _Gudao told his Servant telepathically.

_"Understood!" _Shirou told his Master telepathically.

Meanwhile, the Finnish is resting next to the wall of the closest ruined building they could get in. Desmond is treating his wound after he extracted the bullet that wounded the Finnish.

"What did we do to them that they trying to kill us now?!" Desmond said while treating the Finnish.

"Desmond, give me the bullet that harmed me, I'll at least able to tell what nationality of the Servants that aimed for us." The Finnish told his friend.

Desmond quickly grabbed the bullet tip that was in the Finnish's foot and show it to him. It was just in seconds but the Finnish's eyes turned hollow when he realized what this bullet is.

"Um, it is the Azure Soldiers or the SS Waffen specifically?" Desmond asked?

"Worse..." The Finnish said in a voice that indicates that the shitshow they had just only begun.

Suddenly, Richard burst in and telling them.

"You two! We have to split up and taking down the sniper teams, right now!" Richard said before he evaded another shot that was aiming for him.

"Tsk, I'll have to deal with them sooner or later. Desmond, how does my wound look right now." The Finnish asked his friend.

"Well... You can walk, I think? I hope you can accept the agonizing pain when running recklessly." Desmond said back.

"Whatever, I don't accept myself being a deadweight anyway, I'll go for one alone, you will assist the others." The Finnish said back.

"What! What makes you saying something like that, you got shot in your feet and you intended to do something like this alone?!" Desmond asked his friend why he intended to risk like that.

"I'll have my personal experience against them back when I was human, plus, I don't want all of you to get into the crossfire of my Noble Phantasm." The Finnish said back to his friend.

Desmond became silent, he just hardly understands the concepts of being a lone wolf in warfare like this. Why does his friend think of heading out alone from others is a good idea in the first place.

"Desmond, I know what you are thinking but please put your faith in me like how you do the same with your god." The Finnish asked his friend to reassure him.

Desmond became hesitate for a few seconds but he decided to put his trust in his friend.

"You better not dying or I'll use Satan's power just to bring you back!" Desmond decided to scold his friend for one time before pulling him up.

"Don't worry, you don't even need to treat my wounds after dealing with them. For there is no wound to fix at all." The Finnish said to his friend before heading off towards where the direction of the bullet that aimed at Richard would be fired from.

"Tsk, I never liked you deciding to be a lone wolf so often like this but it wouldn't be like you to not do so at all," Desmond said to himself before he heads out to assist the other team.

And so, the battle has just begun for them.

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**"._.""._.""._."**

_**Break Through**_

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**Back to Arnold's current position**

"For the love of anything, how in the world can we advance!" Arnold said while hiding in a ruined building, it seems that he hadn't been spotted yet

"If you have the time to complain then use that time to think of any way to defeat whoever behind there, I don't have the dexterity it took to firing back without getting killed myself!" Alfin said to him.

"Oh common! I'm a soldier, not an officer!" Arnold said back.

In amidst of their argument, somebody managed to get to Arnold's side and quickly said to him.

"Arnold! We need to plan something right now, the cover we had won't protect us for any meaningful amount of time!" Gudao said to the man.

"If it was as simple as that, we wouldn't be arguing right now," Arnold said back to Gudao.

They were surrounded by multiple snipers and they whittle down any cover they have. Gudao has many times faced with situations where he has to plan strategy amid the battle and this wouldn't be an exception.

Gudao focused his mind and thinking about how they would break out of this situation. Gathering any facts or anything that could help them. Seconds passed, the ruined house where Alfin is hiding has its roof collapsed and its debris fell on her. Such things like that wouldn't make a scratch but now she is defenseless. Within that fragment of time, a spark of brilliance appeared in his mind when he thinks about the situation when Desmond's attempt to save the Finnish could have resulted in his death but nothing happened, he thinks that what if that moment happened not due to dumb luck but another Noble Phantasm of his. An unlisted one at that.

_"Archer! Assassin! Where's Desmond!?" _Gudao telepathically communicates with his Servants since he can't allow himself to peek through.

_"Master! Are you fine? Desmond is with us but where are you!?" _Shirou communicated with his Master.

_"Archer! Can you bait them so that Desmond would try to save you? I know it is suicidal but this the only way I can think in a moment like this!" _Gudao telepathically replied to his Archer.

_"Not that our place is any better, it is on the verge of collapse anyway, I'll talk to Desmond to see if he would follow through," _Shirou said back before he got cut off.

"Damn, if this the necessary action to break through then dead be damned. I'm going to do this." Shirou said before he prepared to rush outside from the building that is full of holes.

"Onii-chan! I'll do it in your stead!" Before Shirou do anything, his sister jumped out first and attempted to evade the sniper's attack. Her swiftness allowed to evade most of it but it is a bad idea to underestimate the power behind said shots.

"Kuro!" Shirou screams as he sees his sister jumped straight into danger.

A spurt of blood burst through her, the sudden shock makes her lose her balance and fell flat into the ground, the rain washing away her life as the bloody stream flowed from her body.

Desmond instinctively jumped towards her in an attempt to bring her to safety. Nonetheless, he quickly became the snipers' next target. The next moment that should have spelled his demise was replaced with nothing, nothing at all. Gudao has seen what happened from where he stood and quickly jumped into command.

"Arnold! Get out there and distract all of them, you know how to deal with all of this sniper better than us." Gudao told Arnold.

Arnold quickly gets up and dashes towards where he would believe to be the place that the snipers fire from. It is only his hypothesis based on the bullet 'holes' but it is the only lead he had.

"Wait! Take this!" Alfin rose up from the debris and threw him a radio.

"Wait! How did you get this!?" Arnold asked while looking back at her while running.

"I asked that Assassin for a portable communication device before but never expected this portable! We'll need to keep in touch should we wish to break through their parameter!" Alfin said back to him.

Arnold runs with a speed beyond how one would expect, he has experienced being pursuit and been attempted to gun down by many Brittish soldiers in his memory and so this wouldn't be much different. Hell, he would say this is easier since this an urban area, not an open field that is heaven for snipers.

But he wouldn't drop his guard regardless, there is a huge difference. The snipers in his memory were soldiers that given a scoped sniper rifle and that is, it is unclear if they are as skilled as anything he knows at all. This one, however, includes many snipers whose skill reached the realm of legend itself. If they managed to reach the status of Heroic Spirit then their skill with sniping is no doubt beyond any recognitions.

He takes a deep breath and quickly gathers his pace. There is no use comparing them now, he has his duty and he'll follow it through to its end.

Meanwhile, Desmond is tending to the wound of the little Archer, he glad that it didn't strike anything vital but he didn't like her rash action like that.

"For God's sake, why did you do something like that? Why didn't you consider others before you doing something like that?" Desmond scold the little Archer's for her action.

"Sorry, I thought that using my smaller physique to my advantage was a good enough idea but you see how wrong I was and you can laugh at me for all you wanted," Kuro said as if she regretted her whole decision.

"I'm just glad that you were okay, but it looks like your Master has guessed all of my Noble Phantasm just from what happened and my action alone, I give him that at least," Desmond said as he praised her Master.

"Well, if he didn't do so from long before, he wouldn't make it this far. He is the type to never back down no matter how dire it is. He is willing to make gods his enemy if they threaten humanity themselves." Kuro describes her Master.

"And you know what else is not surprising? I too would believe it." Desmond said while tending the wound that Kuro sustained.

Even with two Servants out of commission, they managed to finally break through the situation, now they have to reach the snipers and it won't be an easy task no matter how one can say.

* * *

**"._.""._.""._."**

_**Messenger's Call**_

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**Back to Arnold's position**

"We'll be making a pincer attack towards one of the sniper's location, information is indeed one of the most important aspects of warfare like you said," Arnold said back through the walkie-talkie.

He evaded another shot before it hits him in his vital which results in a graze that cut through his clothes but no damage is done.

"But I'm afraid that I can't afford to spare much more thought talking to you while I'm under heavy fire. If you got something critical to report, call me and I'll pick it up!" Arnold said before he cut off the communication.

Dust flying up just from his sheer movement alone, Servants that have speed as their strength would probably laugh at him with the speed that is supposed to be called his 'best' but they still going to give it to him that he is far faster than how any Modern Servants could be.

Athletics and swift, he dodged another shot that pierces through the wall of the ruined building, his reaction is good enough to the point that even if it is about to hit him, he could still swerve his body so that it would be at best graze him. The tightly packed building gave him a good cover so that the snipers got no choice but to guess it based on his behaviors and actions so far but most of the time the sniper guessed correctly where he is.

"Persistent to the very end huh? I'll find you and I'll take you down." Arnold thought about what he wanted to do.

Before he knew it, he got himself to a wide-open space, assuming is a large road and intersection area. But there is one thing that spells a wrench to the gear in his plan, Azure Soldiers, and a lot of them and a few Panzers in the current area he just got into. It seems that they were patrolling the area and he just alerted all of them.

"Oh for the love of-" Arnold said before he got greeted with a hail of bullets and ballistic at his face.

His body instinctively pulled back before he got hit by any of those but now not only he got Azure Soldiers on his pursuit but also a sniper that wanted his ass on the plate.

_"Crap! I don't have anything that could be used for dealing with large groups like this. I'm a runner, not an artillery crew!" _Arnold thought while evading the hail of bullets.

Within the heat of battle, he felt his mind is pushing beyond its limit, seconds become minutes, minutes become hours and so on. He decided that he'll have to search for anything in his mind should he wish to overcome the situation he is in right now.

Felt as if becoming lighter, his consciousness returned to the sealed armory of bygone past. He stood there, scrutinize for anything that can be used as a weapon to take down large groups. Unfortunately, the only thing that was in his armory was pistols, infantry-issued rifles, some grenade that would explode for a pitiful amount of range, and smoke grenades that would probably act like nothing towards the sniper and a flamethrower that would paint a target on his back and the target would say 'shoot me'.

"Oh for fuck's sake, nothing here is viable," Arnold said while his frustration started to build up.

Amid his frustration, the sound of something caught his attention. He looked around and realized that it was the sound of a pigeon. He saw the pigeon cage in his memory sitting on the desk and a book is placed on it.

He came to check the book first only to realize that most of the pages are blank but what surprised him is that the pages have what is written here is a summarized version of part of his memory, it is mostly random and about for now but he would have appreciated more if he could recover his memory and learn the truth of who he is.

He takes a look at the pigeon that is inside the cage, it looks back at him in the eyes. He realized that perhaps there is a way for him. Perhaps. But he hesitated for also realized that there is no artillery crew or even a place for it to go at all. He stuck in an impasse, not knowing what to do but decided to put it all on a dim hope.

"Not like I have any better choices left, either do or die. Here I go!" Arnold said as he grabbed the pigeon cage and head out towards the exit that will return him to reality.

The bright light behind it blinds him but his vision soon returns to what he is doing, fending off a large group of Azure Soldiers while evading their fires.

He takes the pigeon out of the cage and opened the leg canister that was attached to its leg. Surprisingly, it didn't fly off instantly but sitting on his shoulder while Arnold is under heavy fire. It almost as if like it is waiting for Arnold to write something in it and it will only fly when he did so.

There is also a piece of paper and a piece of graphite inside the canister, he knew better to find a place to write this than multi-tasking on his two arms alone.

Closing the canister again, he made a run for somewhere that the Azure Soldiers' attacks won't reach him immediately. Being hunted by a marksman isn't enough but an army that pursuing him made the situation worse already. Deciding that he should at least try to reduce the probability of getting shot as low as possible.

With smoke grenades held on to his side belt, he threw a few of them in the direction in front of him, the sniper seems to know where exactly he is but this will make them check twice for every shot.

The smoke grenades detonated covering a surprisingly wide area. This would buy him more time. He sat down behind the wall of a ruined building and grab the contents in the container.

_"What should I write?! There is no support here or any army at all. Forget it! I'll just write it and hope for the best." _Arnold thought.

And so Arnold wrote.

_'Send artillery barrages at the squad 50 meters ahead of my positions'_

And in the next moment, he put the contents back into the container and close it off. And in the next, he threw the pigeon to the sky with all of his might behind it and move out before getting spotted again.

The pigeon flew up through the smokescreen as it flies toward the glooming cloudy sky, like a bolt from the blue, the white bird that was freed from the stain and filth of the land it came from. Like an angel, it carries the message towards heaven beyond, Arnold who is running look up towards it and watch as it disappears into the clouds.

Nothing happened in those seconds, Arnold felt like he got played into a fool's errand and as like how he thought, useless. But that was just for those seconds alone.

Right in the next moment, the shells came burst from high heaven into the ground below as it was aimed towards the Azure Soldiers. Like sinners facing god's judgment, they were dumbfounded at the turn of events that is happened in front of their eyes. In the next moment, a massive amount of explosion went on as the land in front of Arnold's eye was razed to the depth of hell itself.

It all happened not even in minutes and what followed up is only the sound of rain, and large craters on the ground left behind by such a devastating strike, a large cloud of dust that was left behind mixed with azure ashes that fly through the air with it and the dumbfounded Arnold as if he saw the power of heaven itself.

Realizing the power he has again, he found out that he has the power to turn the tides and it makes him far more determined of what to come. And so he'll strike back with all he got.

* * *

**"._.""._.""._."**

_**Soaring Heaven**_

**"._.""._.""._."**

* * *

**Back to Shirou's position**

After analyzing the bullet's path, Shirou begins to pursue the location of one of the snipers.

Another shot was fired but Shirou managed to deflect the bullet after he put enough mana into his twin sword. He has his father and mother followed him so that they could block off any escape path that the snipers could use should them attempt to escape when Shirou got close.

The urban area helped a bit in making them harder to be detected but it does almost nothing to slow down the bullets that were aimed at them, the rain doesn't help in the slightest for Shirou either.

_"Master. Do you copy right now?" _Kiritsugu telepathically communicates with his Master.

_"I heard you, Assassin. I'm breaking through the apartments that were adjacent to each other. Although I can't exactly peek out to the large road, I am still trying to get as close as possible so that I can support all of you in any way I can." _Gudao telepathically answered back

_"Understood, I'm going to get to the top of the buildings so that I can scout in any way I can, my Presence Concealment should work right now," _Kiritsugu answered back before getting on to his plan.

Assassin jumped to the top of a nearby building, it gives him a good vantage point so that he could scout the surrounding area. As far as his sights could tell, it is just mostly apartment buildings and some bit taller buildings.

"Honey, did you found anything yet?" Irisviel asked her husband who she is hanging on from the back.

"Not yet, there is hardly anything the snipers could use as a good sniping spot but considering that they were Heroic Spirits, I doubt that they wouldn't have found one already," Kirtisugu said to his wife.

"Kiritsugu, is that?" Irisviel said when she saw something.

"Crap! I have to tell him!" Before Kiritsugu said it, it was too late for him to intervene when his son his rushing toward the danger zone.

Back to Shirou's location, he is rushing toward the area ahead of him head-on, a large open road that would make him susceptible sniper attacks and to make the matter worse, he has to come across a patroling group of Azure Soldiers.

"Shit." Shirou thought when he realized the grave situation he got himself in.

Changing his stances of action quickly, he swapped his twin sword for his bow and rapidly firing at the Azure Soldiers, the enemies also return fire like a hailstorm that was aimed at him, not only he has no chance or time to charge even for a Hrunting let alone anything that could take down Panzer, the sniper he supposed to aim for is probably taking advantage of his situation right now.

"Damn it! How am I supposed to breakthrough now!" Shirou thought while dodging the hail of bullets.

The number of enemies he supposed to fight is staggering, the Panzers that blocking Shirou's attack aren't even flinching from it at all. Kiritsugu and Irisviel who are observing their situation right now know that they have to do something.

"I'll have to take down those Panzer!" Kiritsugu knows full well how dangerous the situation that Shirou got himself in.

In the next moment, he takes out a large rifle, its caliber is bigger than the 50 cal sniper itself. The A-Square Hannibal, one that uses .557 T-rex. M82 is good when he had to deal with groups of enemies that aren't too defensively powerful, WA2000 is for designated distance sniping. But A-Square is for when you got no other choice of taking down powerful enemies without resorting to explosives or missiles.

He broken-charge the bullet and then enchanted it with Chronomaturgy.

_**Time alters - square accel**_

He then loaded the bullet into the rifle and prepare to hold the trigger. If he fires it, his _Presence Concealment _will wear out and exposes him to everyone else but he accepts it, his family is the last line for his sanity and he can't afford to lose anyone, not when he and his family made it this far. He will help his son regardless if it is going to endanger himself.

He held the trigger and what followed up is a loud noise created from the sound barrier being destroyed by the sheer velocity of the bullet. What followed up soon enough is the three Panzers that supposed to cover the Azure Soldiers behind them got shredded to pieces along with the soldiers behind it by the power of his attack. The numbers of Azure Soldiers managed to be cut down to acceptable so that his son could find a way to breakthrough.

Kiritsugu let out a deep breath of relief but everything has its price.

"Kiri!" Irisviel warned him of an incoming attack.

"Huh?" Kiritsugu before realizing what has happened, his back was turned and the person received that attack was his wife. Even when his wife blocked that attack, he still felt the impacts and forces behind the said bullet and it knocked both of them off the building. Kiritsugu fell face flat into the ground but it is a far more acceptable consequence than being headshot by the said thing.

The rain continuously fell on both of them, lying silently on the cold ground. Fortunately, none of them died, Irisviel's Child of Nature gives her the blessing from the Reverse Side of the World for being made in there by the hands of humans. No matter how much trauma and pain she may suffer, she will remain unchanged no matter what for she is as pure as her innocence. That is what her skill Child of Nature is after all. She takes advantage of this skill by shielding her husband from attacks that could kill him while remaining unharmed no matter what it is.

*cough*"I think we out of the sniper's sight, for now. That person thinks that we were killed by him." Kiritsugu let out a wry smile.

"Yeah, I hope our son would manage to break through the situation," Irisviel said to her husband.

They are out of this fight for now. This will be Shirou's only chance to turn the tide, he will have to use all of what he has or it will be his end.

Back to Shirou's position, the significant difference in the enemy's number did him wonder, now he has more leeways to deal with the predicament he is in.

"Jii-san... Okaa-san... Damn it, I'll have to do this, I need something, something that can wipe them all in one fell swoop, something that isn't Caladbolg or Hrunting." Shirou thought while he is dodging the stream of constant bullets although the intensity is far less than before.

He thought for a while and calculating his possible way of breakthrough, his Mind's Eye allows him to narrow down the possibilities to the one that would give him the highest chance to succeed.

"As much as I hate to do this, it seems that there are no other options for me," Shirou said before he spiritually leaped into what would be called his darkest memory.

_**Word of God:** _ _**For this part, use Fate/stay night - Emiya**_

Memorial Essences is a key and a gateway to greater power as it grants Servants additional Noble Phantasm that they couldn't use with the class they are in or enhance the one they already had. One thing though is that said memory isn't always a good one for it may show them at their utmost worst or memory that they would rather be suppressed. But nonetheless, it is necessary for Servants to move beyond their past or worst possibilities should they wanted to become stronger for the sake of being able to protect humanity.

And Shirou Emiya wasn't exempt from being shown his worst possibility and turns out being Counter Guardian wasn't his worst fate, there is also his another Counter Guardian version who was so mentally broken and deranged that it was unreal and when Shirou received his Memorial Essence, he fell into a coma for about two days before awaken from it. Shirou himself knew well that power by itself is impartial and reliance on the heart of its user. Even if it is a weapon belong to his worst possible self, he will not deny the power it would be able to grant him in this dire situation.

Shirou reached for the memory that he pushed to the furthest back of his head. What greets him first when he reached it is a really fast wind, a wind that is so fast that it doesn't allow any human to exist. Shirou knew such a wind like that in the first place, it was the gale inside his Reality Marble. But this one is different, it was filled with filth and ashes, contaminated with malice and hatred. It felt like if he let his guard down in the slightest, it will corrupt him in no time sooner. He keeps stepping forward despite the gale wanted him to die, the dark crimson horizon that contrasts greatly with his from every fiber of his being, in there stood a man with skin as dark as pitch black with gold plated throughout his body in a way that he was breaking down and fixed himself by fixing gold on it. In old Japanese, anything broken will have to be fixed with gold in order to show that mistakes and flaws shouldn't be forgotten but to remembered.

That man has been taking drugs in order to push his abilities to reach and go beyond the level of Servant's and overuse it to such a degree that his body breaking down because of it, Shirou keeps his step forward as the contaminated gale pushing him back, the gold-dark Servant started to look back at him and said.

"Never thought that you actually seeking my help now, aren't you?" The man said back to Shirou.

Shirou's vision fired up as he forces as much heat into his body as possible. His limbs cut through the gale like blades against water.

"Can you keep up with me?" The gold-dark Servants said back to Shirou

Whether to scorn him or trust in him. As if he is waiting for Shirou's to get there. Shirou in his heart knows clearly what decision to take.

"It is not that whether or not I can keep up with you-" Shirou said before he clearly follows up with all of his determination.

"It is whether you can keep up with me!" Shirou said as he reaches towards the man who he despite becoming.

Shirou's consciousness returned back to reality with the wind of his suppressed memory died down.

He steps up, analyzing the enemy, there are about fifty-sixty of them with a few Panzers left, he will need something that will finish all of them off with one swift blow.

Excalibur is out of the question, costs too much energy for somebody like him and will require a Command Seal from his Master to compensate for the cost. Hrunting and Caladbolg will take too much time to deal with this situation. My power and his are different like light and darkness and so I can only utilize what both of us have used for almost of our lifetime.

Shirou took a deep breath, he put all of his mana into his arms and projected the twin swords he always used.

_Spirit and technique, flawless and firm_

He took another deep breath while evading the bullets, not removing himself from what he supposed to do.

_Strength rips the mountain_

Dark energy and statics form from his arm as if he is channeling his inner worst, this is a gamble for he is using Noble Phantasm from someone who basically contradicts him to his very fundamental despite it is also his very self.

_Blade splits the Yellow River_

He connected the two pommels of the twin sword together and it turns into a duel-bladed melee staff, he felt his body is aching for attempting something blasphemous to his existence.

_Fame reaches the Imperial Villa_

"Trace Overedge" Shirou said as the duel blades of the melee staff turned itself into the amalgamation of a demon and angel's wing. His eye turned into the glint of cold steel as there is only his killing intent left behind it.

_**Two of us can't hold the heavens together. Soaring Heaven!**_

With a single whirl of the blade he held, he exceeds godspeed before anyone could blink an eye. In just an instant, he cut through the horde of Azure Soldiers with a slash of blended light and darkness of hell and heaven. There is no counterattack left for the only remain is the azure ashes that flew through the wind and rain. For good...

A single whirl filled with his vigor put the entire fight into his decisive victory, but if only he could feel it anymore.

_**Word of God:**_ _**For this part play Fate/stay night - Ever-present Fellings**_

Kuro came into the scene and saw it all unfolded, she was dumbfounded by his strength and despite they shares the same power, it is clear that her brother has the experience under his belt saved him.

The man was trembling with fatigue and shaken from the power he used, he suppressed his own fear and put his life on the line for the final blow of his. His crimson shroud was torn from the sheer power it has to handle.

From the moment she started to walk towards where her family is to witnessing her brother's move, it took her only half a minute but that half a minute she used determined the final outcome for her brother.

"Shi-" Kuro said when she made it and saw the battle he partakes in has ended.

The winds blow through the clearing as if signaling the conflict has ended. The only thing left was the figure in her vision.

Only the sounds of wind and rain remain for the battle has ended. Using his own will and determination, he fought against his death and won. He faced his own worst nightmare and defeated that fear himself.

His figure looks heroic and powerful, there is no doubt left in him now.

He cast away all of his agonies when he projected something that was never belonged to him and never will be in the first place

"-Shirou" Kuro said again as she keeps watching in sorrow.

His body looks like they belonged to somebody else's now. It was a foolish yet sacred end with no return.

*cough* Shirou resumed his breathing, his vision was in statics and felt like he was going to broke down any second now. His sister voiced awaken him back from flowing into eternal slumber. The dual bladed staff in his left arm has disintegrated from his hand and what is left behind is a profusely bleeding arm due to overexertion.

"Kuro?" Shirou said tiredly from exhaustion and doing something he never familiarized with.

Before he realized it, his sister dashed towards him and deflected a sniper's bullet to protect him from the snipers, it seems that it has slipped off his mind after he did such an attack like it.

"Mama! Papa! Take Onii-chan to safety!" Kuro said as loud as she can to call for help.

As if acting upon their instinct, despite that they were in no better condition, both Kiritsugu and Irisviel came to retrieve their son back into safety and it seems like Desmond has also made it.

She looks back at the general direction towards the sniper and just by looking at her gaze, one can already tell that there won't be mercy.

* * *

**"._.""._.""._."**

_**Through Fire and Flame**_

**"._.""._.""._."**

* * *

**Back to the Finnish's position**

Another large explosion, it would be surprising if nobody managed to notice it. The dust that was kicked up from the blast still linger around, the hazy figure of a man slowly walking through the dust cloud.

In his eyes, there is only a stilling flame of hatred in it. The azure ashes created from an annihilated group of patroling Azure Soldiers mixed with the cloud of smoke of dust. One can tell that he doesn't like to play around with his enemy at all and he doesn't hesitate using his Noble Phantasm if nobody is around.

He keeps walking but the aura around him makes him extremely menacing. Truth be told, it is a wonder that none of the others has noticed that anywhere he walks ended up turning into a blaze that the rain can't extinguish at all. Anywhere he goes, it turns into hell.

Needless to say that all of those smoke make it near impossible to snipe anything at all.

"I can see why my Master told me to be careful with the demon of the Third Reich, that man only wanted to see the world burns." The Russian girl said.

The hellfire keeps spreading further towards her, the place she is in right now is an abandoned university that was half-collapsed from long before but still grants her enough coverage and height.

The figure she is hunting for keeps blending in with the smoke and fire, making her ability to snipe her target drastically reduced. There were many times that she could have decided to change her location but keeps thinking that she may be able to hunt him down if she keeps pushing on.

"I don't know which part of your is more blatant, your persistence or your Russian ancestry." An unfamiliar voice was said, the girl instinctively fires her rifle at the source of the voice.

The bullet hit somebody and it was the Finnish but not a single drop of blood was shed and he didn't flinch in the slightest. He stood there menacingly, like a fortress wall that would crush her alive.

"How!? How did you-" The girl said in surprise with a hint of fear in it. Never in her service did she gotten spotted near like this.

"Listen here, you little shit. I don't have time to play this stupid game of you and your Master. I don't know what kind of man he was but there is one thing to be sure here is that this place will be your burial ground." The Finnish said back with a voice that would strike fear in everyone's heart.

"Not for that long, heretic." The girl said back as she retaliated by firing her rifle straight into the Finnish head.

It is unknown if it is just because of dumb luck or he really that skilled for he literally just dodged the bullet just by tilting his head while the rifle was fired at point-blank range. Never in her life has she ever saw someone that could just dodge a bullet at point-blank.

"So it is clear then, you chose to die," The Finnish said as if he has decided her execution.

He takes out a Molotov and threw it at the ground in front of him, completely separate them from each other.

"What is he planning!?" The girl said in confusion as she tried to sort out the mess that is unfolding in front of her.

As if receiving an answer instantly, a blinding light shines on her, she looks at the window and saw something that completely dumbfounds her.

A helicopter, one that was armed to teeth with machine guns and missiles. In her eyes, she was looking at something that completely not belonged to this time. Humanity's biggest fear, after all, is the fear of the unknown.

The helicopter begins to rev up its machine gun and firing with a stream of bullets that would make the rain out there looks like a single drop to a flood.

Gather her composure, she makes a mad dash through the hallway while the helicopter chases after her. When she almost gets caught in the helicopter's line of fire, she lunged through the staircase nearby, dodging her death.

"What in the hell is that thing!? I have never seen anything like that-" Before she caught her breath back, her body instinctively evaded as a missile fired towards her.

Pursued by something that was out of her range of knowledge, she desperately trying to find any way out of this. For now, running away is her only valid tactic for this one.

The building started to collapse from the heavy fire it undertook, she has little time left and she will have to use anything that could give her an edge against her newfound enemy.

She decided to at least test out if her attack work, aiming her rifle at the helicopter that wanted her to turn into minced meat, she pulled the trigger. Perhaps she already anticipated her own disappointment for her bullet just got bounced away when it hit the helicopter.

"Well, that's a bummer," She said before she dashed into the closest room before the helicopter's barrage sweep her out.

The building won't last long, it is a surprise that it can still stand despite it is on its last leg. Her survivability is now counting below minutes, it is to act now or die onward.

Checking all the possibilities, she has little solutions left, the building won't last long either. Within the impasse she stuck in, a sudden idea gives her the answer to the dilemma she is facing right now.

"That's it!" She said. The Russian girl quickly materializes a larger rifle, an anti-tank rifle. The thing is too bulky to carry around and too overkill for her job but it is the necessary part of her plan.

Just right at that moment, the building has finally given up from the helicopter's onslaught and started to collapse. Almost within seconds, she dashed out of the room and jumped through the window of the building. The helicopter quickly pursues her and started to rev up the machine gun.

"Eat this!" The girl said before she fired the anti-tank rifle at the helicopter's weak point. The rotor.

Broken the sonic barrier, the bullet moves with a speed that would pierce through everything and not even in a second, the rotor blew up and soon the helicopter lost its own control and spin uncontrollably.

She landed on the ground safely despite she jumped from a three-story building, the university that sniped on now is nothing more than rubbles, and the helicopter soon crashed onto the ground and exploded into a wreck.

"Too close right there." She let out a deep breath after surviving such an encounter like that.

But something doesn't bode well with her, her instinct is telling that there is more to this how it meets the eye. Wary of whatever is going to happen, she looked around if the 'heretic' is still here or not.

She heard something, it was something falling from the sky and when she looked up. She realized that she has been played completely into that the Finnish's plan.

What was up in the sky was a barrage of falling bombs, one that she doesn't even recognize at all. The barrage is too large to escape right now.

"Crap..." She said before the bombs impacted on the ground.

What happened next is hell literally raised, the entire section of where the bombs landed literally turned into hellfire. A flame of the eternal nightmare that would outlast till eternity.

At a distance away from the bombing, the Finnish turned his back from the aftermath, only giving annoyed sigh as he has resorted to something like that. He doubts no one would notice it. No one wouldn't notice it for sure.

He walked away slowly, as the sounds of the blaze can still be heard through the rain

* * *

**"._.""._.""._."**

_**Thousands-Bullet Revolver**_

_****"._.""._.""._."****_

* * *

_****Back to Pierce's position****_

"Richard! Left flank!" Pierce commanded Richard as his Servant dispatched another Azure Soldier.

Both of them are holed up in a building for now. It seems the sniper only fire at them if they are out in the open field or at least in its vision.

"Slow but steady, we will reach there soon," Pierce told his Servant.

"Yeah, soon... But the Azure Soldiers are posing more threat right now. Did all of us just alert all of them in this ring?" Richard asks his Master.

"We can't know for sure until we deal with those pesky snipers, put your wit on top!" Pierce replied back to his Servant.

They will have to pick their chance and path well, just one moment of being careless and they are already dead.

"Okay, go!" Pierce commanded Richard to head out first.

Right even when he steps to outside, he deflected the bullet with a bayoneted rifle. His wit is still enough to block attack like it which kinda makes Pierce concerns that he might be falling into a trap.

"2 o'clock! 1st Class inbounds!" Pierce commanded his Servant as he proceeds carefully, his armor can withstand Azure Soldiers but completely outclassed by Servants' attack.

Deflected another of the sniper shot, the old man started to feel more suspicious about the snipers they are fighting against, thinking that they are in a trap or something.

"Richard! Switch your tactic! Go into the small alleyway and proceed carefully towards the sniper's position.

"Got it!" Richard said back to his Master.

Sidestep into the small alley, the area here is pretty tight and so it would completely block his enemy's view. And if the sniper's behavior is still the same, they will make it there in no time with no counterattack.

Azure Soldiers started to flood in more into the alleyway that Richard is in, if it is not gonna be the sniper that he is worried about, it will be those monster behind that mask of theirs.

Only with his annoying sigh, he whipped out a double-barrel shotgun and prepared to fight his way through again. It is just simply because of his invention that he suddenly got associate as a person who knew very much about firearms.

_**Words of God:**_**_ This one, I kinda don't know how to describe properly so you may have to search "FF8 Irvine's Limit Break". I'll probably fix this one soon if I know how to describe it without making it sounds stupid._**

He took a deep breath and prepare to attack, holding the shotgun in his hand and aimed at the enemy. Within not even a second, he fired the first shot which burst through some Azure Soldiers, the remaining which saw how his attack begins to return fire.

Moving his shotgun to the side of his back while it still aimed in the direction towards the enemy, with a speed that leaves only afterimages, he fires another shot that held unrivaled power that sweeps the entire alleyway in front of him, soldiers, ballistics, anything in front of him in the alleyway got blasted to smithereens and ashes.

There are still more coming in, he quickly spins around and changes his stance into holding the shotgun one-handed. Another shot was fired and it comes with a hail of shrapnel that burst through the small alleyway he is in.

The alley is clear for a while and he started to move out, he wonders if his Master could pull through this like him.

For every step he moves, he fires his shotgun once. Even if it is slow and steady, they'll make it there in no time.

Unfortunately, though, warfare has always been full of unpredictable aspects, making any plan no matter how tight it is still prone to go completely wrong. And it just happened to unfold right in front of him right now.

Feeling something rumbling beneath, his gut is telling him that something huge is coming near here. People did say that you can't be too precautious and that has indeed paid him off. Decided to go against his Master's plan, he bursts through the nearby buildings in his attempt to at least warn his Master of an incoming enemy.

The walls did nothing to stop him as he burst through and when he was in the middle of doing so, he heard something loudly burst through the buildings that were on the alley he used to take. He started to feel more worried that they probably triggered the boss here.

Soon enough, he burst to the other alley and saw his Master still trying to fight his way through the horde Azure Soldiers. He felt a bit of relieve knowing that his Master is still fine enough but that brief moment of relief is also shattered soon when he suddenly saw a barrage of bullets piercing through the buildings in the alley in front of him. Whatever it is, it is clear that it wants to wipe both him and his Master out.

"Duck!" He said as he jumped in and held his Master down against the ground. It was that single moment that decided Pierce's fate as the barrage cleaves through the Azure Soldiers mercilessly and shatters the buildings around them. Both of them managed to make out unscathed for that moment.

Clouds of dust fly from the destruction left behind. Only deafening silence remains. The giant figure made of steel is advancing towards them. It is ominous like a black star

_**Words of God: **__** For this part, play Evangelion - God's Message.**_

Richard pulls himself up and quickly materializes his Noble Phantasm, the Gatling gun. He looks eyes to eyes towards the figure and when the dust settles down did his suspicion has been confirmed. The figure was a Tiger, that steel tiger head of that mech is a dead giveaway already.

Face to face, the Tiger begins to fire its machine gun, Richard begins to fire his and when the moment comes, it is was a clash between two forces of nature.

Thousands of bullet fly towards each other in a matter of seconds, each bullet hit deflect each other in perfect sync. It was literally raining smithereens from the clashes of those bullets, both sides don't give up at all.

The Tiger's eyes started to glow red as if it started to get impatient with its target. The machine gun on its arm started to have some sort of mana particles circulating around the gun's barrel. It was at that moment, something just dropped in Richard's stomach as he feared that he will be erased in those next seconds if he doesn't do something.

Adrenalin floods through his body, time seems to flow slower than normal to him. He begins thoughts to himself.

"Oh no, just what can I do here? This is it, I'm going to die. If even that tanned Archer's explosive shot can't make a dent in this thing then how am I supposed to defeat it?" Richard thought.

His body started desperately search for a solution in his life and death situation. Searching through any fragments of his memory, it seems like the effort of doing so is going to be a futile one. But there is the voice of someone that recalled him.

His Master, the man with a heart made out of pure determination. A man who was so valiant that even he himself would call him as a hero. If there is anything that would stick out to him, it would be his advice.

_"Power is simply the extension of one's soul, what use does it have if not used to its full potential." _Or so he heard, he has too little time to recollect the whole thing completely.

Realized what he is truly lacking, he determines himself. He now understands why soldiers can put on a brave face even when facing death itself. He realized just what he has been lacking, a will to not back down on the face of adversary.

Time started to flow back into normal pace, the Tiger's machine gun is having so many mana particles surrounding it to the point it became a halo itself. He knew what is going to come next and he will overcome it.

And it was as just like how he thought, the machine gun is no longer firing any bullets but it straights up firing beam itself. Before that beam of destruction came to evaporate him.

**"And this is to go further and beyond!"** The man said with a heart of iron, he doesn't fear his imminent death anymore.

After he said it, the Gatling gun started to also fire beam to counter against his opponent. Any ranged Servant can fire beam as long as they put enough mana into their attacks and most of them have a ton of it.

Two beam clashes with each other creating a blinding flash that burst through the dust clouds. If anyone pays any attention, they would see it clearly that something is happening.

Pierce can only look in awes in the face of the clash that is going on.

* * *

**"._.""._.""._."**

_**Silver Wing - Golden Wills**_

**"._.""._.""._."**

* * *

**Back to Arnold's position**

After he managed to break through the patrolling units, there is almost nothing left on his way towards his target. Even if the enemy can somehow identify him among the buildings, he would manage to evade said attack somehow.

"Almost there! Now I just need to-" Before Arnold thought all of what he wanted, he came into a standstill. Now he realized why the enemy is so confident. The place that they sniping from is surrounded by a large open area. If he goes out there, he will get head shotted in an instance.

"Damn it! I was so close!" He thought as he hides behind the closest building.

Devising what he needed to do next, he can't just rush out there like a headless chicken. Nor he has anything that could protect him from those powerful shots.

They said that in the hardest time did the ingenuity prevails and his action right now is probably the one that would be added into those examples.

He checked whatever he had and hoped that he has something that might help him. And when he looked at the pickaxe that he brought along from yesterday. When he did so, he has a flashback that he destroyed the Tiger's arm with said thing. And when he realized the tactic that was used back in that distant wartime. He put two and two together and an idea sparked in his mind.

"Perhaps..." He mumbled.

He started to take out his pickaxe and prepared for whatever to comes afterward from this action. In the next moment, he struck the pickaxe against the ground and a cloud of dust burst from where it landed right in the instance.

He was prepared for such an action and he didn't expect he would be dazed from its power would be like this but he got what he needed, a pit for his next step.

He looked at where the sniper's building is and then he jumped into the pit. Holding the pickaxe again as he prepared to do whatever it takes to defeat the sniper.

He cleaves through the wall of the pit and a staggering amount of rubbles were razed to above the ground, creating a long trench at the direction he struck. With a smirk on his face, he rushed through the trench itself and for each time he about to reach the end. He will strike another one in a different direction to close in the building.

There were attempts to shot him down but most were unable to hit him due to the fact that the sniper can't perceive him nor his speed which also means whoever is there can't shoot him accurately.

Another strike against the ground, he started to get closer as his intuition can tell, the distances he took doesn't lie about this as far as he can concerns. There is one thing though, doing this repeatedly actually taking a toll on his body despite he not showing it himself. He probably can just make a straight path towards the building but the moment he peeks out to that path would just be his doom. But he can't afford to do much of this unless being exhausted to the point he became a sitting duck for the sniper is a good idea to him.

"I can't keep doing this, there has to be a way for this." He keeps thinking of the possible choice he can take.

Another idea sparked in his mind, perhaps he can do this.

He throws a grenade at the end of the trench, he has 4 seconds before it detonates. Rushing head-on towards it, he put his stamina in the pickaxe and strike with all of the strength behind it. Grounds were leveraged as the rubbles fly everywhere. He jumped on the area on top of the grenade he threw, and as it blew up, the force pushes him towards the sky.

"I have to do this. If I wanted to find the truth about myself." He thought as he leaped from each rubble in the air with unreal speed.

The rubble would fall down soon eventually, he is still unable to locate where the sniper is in the building and so he resorted to the final option.

The same pigeon appeared in his hand and he threw it into the sky above. If he can't find whoever it is in that building then he would erase the building away.

Unfortunately, there is something that was called casualty and pigeons was unfortunately included along with the death toll in WW1. And he soon realized, he has used his only trump card sooner that it should be.

The pigeon was mercilessly shot down and what remains were just its scattering feathers. He witnessed in shock and realized he can't unturn his action anymore. It is all downhill for him from this point.

"No... What can I do now? I'm going to die..." He thought as despair start to seep in his mind.

But the killing blow never came, he got knocked back into his sense when an explosion shook the building and the air around it. He looked at the building as it started to get closer to the verge of collapse as the explosive barrage keeps knocking into the building.

He looked at where the firer might be and he saw it, the very same blond girl from before. Running with a speed that would make any modern ground vehicles eating dust. In her two hands are what appears to be single-use rocket launchers. She keeps firing them and discarding them right away after using and then materializes another one in her hand. All of this is repeated with a speed that would be afterimage for others.

Not even in half a minute, the building collapsed as it became nothing more than rubbles. Arnold started to get his stance properly and landed on the ground with his feet. Alfin gets nearby him and checks to see if he is okay or not.

"Thank god that you were okay. Why did you do something like that?!" Alfin asks with a slightly annoyed tone.

"Well... I planned that I could just close them in by creating trenches that would surround them but dear lord that doing so is really energy-consuming. And so I decided to just bounce it off like that." Arnold said.

"You shouldn't do something like that but thanks for you that I managed to open my way to attack them. So thanks." Alfin said with a smile on her face.

Arnold can only look at her, who wouldn't feel happy when they saw a smile like that? But something doesn't feel right to him. That smile of her is genuine but her eyes just for some reason feel far off.

"Wait, what is that?" Arnold said as a blinding light is flashing from a not too far off distance from there.

"We have to check out! Something might have happened!" Alfin said as she rushes head-on.

Arnold can only follow her up, there is something that just feels right and wrong at the same times and he can't put it into his mind. He decided that he should at least observe her more before passing down any judgment.

He follows her up as they head towards the clash between two forces.

* * *

**"._.""._.""._."**

_**Crimson-shrouded Hero**_

**"._.""._.""._."**

* * *

**Back to Shirou's position**

At the back of somewhere, Shirou slowly regains his consciousness as he breathing tiredly, he didn't expect to put in so much work for a singularity that was already in the modern age but it seems that you can't judge a book by its cover.

He pulls himself up and sees a crimson shroud covering his left arm which is now healed and a note that was lying next to him the whole time. He doesn't know when it was here but he is going to check it out at the least.

_'Dear brother  
I'm sorry for leaving you like this but I have to say what did you there make me realize how inexperienced I am. I have always kept the idea that if I at least know how to use my power properly, I would be able to keep up with the threat that is looming humanity itself. But that moment when you faced your own fear and overcome it. It felt like something in my gut has just dropped and given up, realizing how much of a kid I still am. Even so, two of us are two half of a whole and I swore on you that I will ascend to the level that you are on. The rest of us are on the path to hunt down that sniper who manipulated__ all of us to jump into danger. Rest while you still can, Onii-chan! 'Cus you will be needing it!  
Your sister  
_

_Kuro'_

A smirk form in Shirou's face, he knew well his sister and he wouldn't put it off the fact that she truly cares about him even if they have any sort of sibling rivalry. He looked at the shroud and analyze it. He smiled as he saw it.

"The Shroud of Martin huh? You did your homework well enough. And quite nostalgic too."

The Shroud of Martin has some Anti-Corruption effect which they used for him. They thought that he might be corrupted by something and decided to patch it up and then shroud it in the fear of the possibility of corruption.

"Not that I could blame her for doing so, I could have died for real if it weren't for her. Since I'm going to wear this shroud on my arm now, I'm going to at least change up a little bit.

He traced a similar piece of cloth with the same property as the shroud that covers his arm. He wears it on his head like a headband, it is a nostalgic feeling that he can't quite sure where it comes from in the first place. He decided to steps outside and check where he is.

The sprinkling rain greets him as they drop to his silver hair, the sky has begun to turn dimmer as the night begins to approach, he knew he has to act soon enough and thus the first action he should take is to find where his family is.

**Back to Kuro's position**

"I swear on my brother that I'll make it. For the sake yours and everyone else." Kuro mumbles under her lips as she running towards the building that she designated herself.

The group of four is now making their way to their target, a lonely and run-down apartment building near riverside. Surrounding it is a large empty field.

"Wait, hold on! Where's our Master?!" Irisviel asked if anyone knows something.

"Our Master is behind us, he knows where we are so there is nothing to worry about," Kiritsugu said to his wife.

"So does anyone know how to destroy a building, 'cus I sure as hell can't even harm a fly," Desmond asks everyone else.

This is just a single building so if they can save their energy, they would take it in the drop of a hat.

"Kuro, I and your mother will jump to the top of the building near here. You will draw their attention so that we would get a clear shot to destroy that building. If it is getting too dicey then retreat. You hear me?" Kiritsugu said to his daughter.

"Understood," Kuro said back to her father

"I'll follow her too, at least I would take her to safety if the situation got really bad for her," Desmond said.

"Then I hope that I made the right decision in putting my faith in you," Kiritsugu said.

Both of them split their way, their path may differ for now but they have one target of the same.

"Something doesn't feel right, that building, it felt like I heard something about it before but I can't tell what it is exactly." Desmond thinks as he looks at the building

Something will unfold, it is just a matter of when.

* * *

**"._.""._.""._."**

_**Decisive Intervention**_

**"._.""._.""._."**

* * *

**Back to Pierce's position**

How many minutes have passed? Those concepts were completely pointless in the face of the clash in front of him. The tension is unstoppably rising as Richard is trying to push back the beam of annihilations of the Tiger. Pierce looks in worry as he knows that if his Servant can't keep up with the Tiger anymore, it would also be his end, his heart is beating rapidly as his stress started to build up as time goes on.

He just a human, and an undeveloped magus at that. There is no way for him to assist his Servant.

The beam started to approaching Richard as it pushing back Richard's mana beam. Richard can feel the anxiety that is building up as his fear seemed to be nothing but assured.

But thankfully, Lady Luck smiled with them this one time. The Finnish jumped out from the clouds of dust and fired his anti-material rifle at the Tiger's machine gun and swayed its aim away from its target. Richard takes the moment and dodged slightly and aimed his Gatling gun towards the center of the Tiger.

The Tiger suddenly broke out of its lock-on and fired its beam aimlessly into the distance and then the unexpected blow from Richard's Gatling gun pushed back and tumbled it into the ground.

After the Tiger got knocked down, Richard dematerializes his Gatling gun and fell to his knee. He never has been feeling this tired in his life. Richard came to back him up and aid him.

"Richard! Are you alright!?" Pierce pull his Servant's arm to his shoulder so that he could carry him to somewhere safe.

"Yeah... Somehow..." Richard said tiredly to his Master.

"Get out of here while you still can! I'll draw as much of its attention as I can!" The Finnish said as loudly as he could.

The man draws out his Suomi SMG and fires it at the Tiger or specifically, its joint. He has imbued the gun with ice spell which he would use it to create a snow path for easy traversal. But in this situation, he imbued with a higher mana cost to froze anything that it hits. The Finnish knows well that none of his arsenals would be able to kill the Tiger in the first place so this is the least he could do, to immobilize it.

The bullets impacted on the Tiger's joint as crystalline ice started to form on the Tiger's joints, it tried to move but the frozen joint makes sure it remains unable to move. The damn thing sure is persistence for it refused to back down no matter what.

"Damn this thing, I fucking wish that the last time I would see these things is in hell!" The Finnish said in frustration. He doesn't even want to spend another second of his on this thing.

The ice bullets froze of its machine gun and cannon, rendering its only attack choice is to rip him apart with its claw. The Tiger begins to charge towards him in order to rip him apart alive,

Evading its grasp, he doesn't know if he has anything to take it down. He wishes for any additional help to cut short of his work and not resort to using his Noble Phantasm.

Convenient timing is surely convenient because there are two more allies of his jumped in to take down the Tiger. Who else but Arnold and Alfin.

"Burn in hell!" Arnold said at the top of his lung as he leaped towards it with a flamethrower in its hand.

Just like the last time he fights it, he plunged the flamethrower into its eye and hold the trigger. Flames soon erupt out from its plating as it became nothing but a tool of execution.

The Finnish sees it and decided to use a simple tactic but really effective, taking his chance and materialize a wood stake in his hand and he plunged it into the tiger's knee making it knelt to its knee. Not only that but he also started to imbue ice spell into it and making it started to freeze from there.

The Tiger suddenly got locked into an undesirable situation and its operator attempted to get out the Tiger but unfortunately for it, even the escaping hatch was frozen from another imbued stake impaled straight through it.

Struggling to breakout, everything was flowing through its plan only to suddenly blew over by the Finnish and two other Servants. The damn thing just swinging its claw maddeningly in order to just to kill anything around it.

"Not so fast!" Arnold said as he strikes his pickaxe in retaliation against the Tiger as its claw tried to grasp him. Not even in a second and the claw was knocked into a far distance.

Having all of its possible ways to counterattack stripped off. This has now become its execution.

"Everyone! Fall back into the safe distance! I'll wipe this damn thing off the face of this planet!" Alfin said with a clear voice.

Both the Finnish and Arnold leaped away as far as they can, they don't exactly know what is the 'safe' distance so all they can do is just run as far as possible from the Tiger.

A large explosion soon proceeded which created an extremely large noise and an earthquake soon come after, dust flew into the air as they cloud the last remaining light. Both of them tripped and confused for they don't even know exactly what has caused the said explosion.

Whether it was her Noble Phantasm or something else, they don't know but they could tell it was really powerful.

*cough* "Dear lord, what happened?" Arnold pulled himself up from the ground as the dust around him making it difficult for him to tell.

He decided to run back to see what has happened and what greeted him there was a really large crater, stretching out towards a really long distance. If modern carpet bombing was compared to said envisioned attack, it would be like comparing a nuke to a MOAB. There is only one word to describe it, overkill.

He turned his eyes on her, seeing her eye has turned into an amber color. It was like seeing a calm sea turned into turbulence whirlpool. If this is the power she held and she could have easily used on anyone then why does she have to make an alliance with everyone else?

Alfin suddenly noticed Arnold and she snapped out of it and her eye turned back into normal.

"Sorry! Did something went wrong?" Alfin said as if all those times of her were spent to look into nothingness.

Arnold can only see it in silence, she is hiding something that even he can't fathom what it is. Even if his anxieties grew, all he can do is to observe further.

"Nothing... Glad to see that you're alright." Arnold said.

And so the silence fell once again, it might be peaceful for now but this was just a brief respite from what is going to happen next.

* * *

**"._.""._.""._."**

_**Oncoming Destruction**_

**"._.""._.""._."**

* * *

**Back to Kuro's position**

She made her way to the designated location, a place that is in the opposite direction of the place that her parents chose. The plan is that she will divert the sniper's attention towards her side and her parents will blow the sniper's hideout to kingdom's come. Sounds simple but very hard to execute for one single mistake could cost the entire plan and maybe her life. But she is willing to do so anyway, nothing could be done without sacrifice, it may not necessarily mean one's life but it is required nonetheless.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Desmond asked the tanned little girl.

"If there is any better choice, we would have done so, that open field is a dead zone for anyone but extremely powerful Servants and the EKS has pretty much forced us to play by that rule," Kuro answered back.

"Well, you better know when to retreat. There is no point in die fighting." Desmond said.

"Yeah, yeah, I already know," Kuro said before she jumped to the top of the building she chose.

She needs to do something that would draw its attention, and so she drew out her bow and traced a Caladbolg, she then altered it into an arrow and then charging mana into it. The azure tint light shines from her position.

Needless to say that it caught the hideout's attention and Kuro expected it to be a sniper shot but nope. It was a hail of bullets, caught off guard by such an unexpected attack like that, she quickly dematerialize her bow and arrow and traced her twin sword. She also traced multiple swords around her and fire them off to deflects the oncoming barrage.

"Didn't expect something like that! But I'm not going to fall here!" Kuro said as she strengthens her convictions against the onslaught.

And so she started to face the oncoming hail of bullets, whether or not it would be a good idea.

**Back to Kiritsugu's position**

"Okay, she's got the attention of whoever it is in there. Iri, charge this thing with as much mana as you can. I'll then time alter this thing and so we can blow that up. " He said as he materializes a rocket launcher and its ammunition.

Iri then holds the rocket and then channeling mana into it. It started to shine in the azure tint light much like how her daughter does with the sword-arrow. After that, she gives the rocket to her husband. He applies his spell to the rocket.

_**Time alter - square accel**_

The rocket now has its time speed of four, he'll have to use it quickly or it will detonate on his hand due to time dislocation which will make it implode if left for long.

Loading the rocket into the launcher, he aims it toward the foundation of the building, thinking it will destroy the building in one fell swoop.

As much as he thought, underestimation can be fatal.

**Back to Kuro's position**

She has been deflecting so many bullets and among those barrages have some explosive shells that would cripple if not outright kill her on direct hits. Desmond is looking in worry, he knew something is really wrong with this building and he still can't tell just what is exactly wrong in there. Something is going to happen, he knew that he isn't the brightest mind but he has to do it if he wanted to avert the worst from happening.

The building started rumbling. As if it has a mind of its own and it felt that it has wasted enough time to deal with her. The intensity of the barrages started to strengthen itself and even Kuro started to struggle against the onslaught. Her parents have to do something, now!

**Back to Kiritsugu's position**

Kiritsugu aims the rocket launcher at the designated weak point. Within the next second, he fired the rocket launcher, the rocket moves with an insurmountable speed with a boosted payload which would blow the whole building apart. But something unexpected happens, the bricks from the building flew out instantly and created a bounded shield which stopped the rocket right on its tracks. The rocket tried to pierce through but unsuccessful and it soon blows up with a blast that shook all of its surroundings. Can't believe what he saw, he didn't expect something like that from a Modern Age Servant. The building started to shake more intensely as if started to become alive. Within those next seconds, Kiritsugu and Iri are going to see the worst nightmare beyond their darkest fear.

The building rose up, standing by itself with its own leg, it is restructuring rapidly into a humanoid while still remain firing at its target, Kuro started to get grazed more and more as the onslaught become harder to fight against. Before she realized what is going on, she realized that the plan has all failed already.

What she is looking at is now a large humanoid archaism, with its right arm literally where all of its firepower concentrate. Now, it is charging its power in order to wipe her out of this world. A continuous stream of bullets and shells were now replaced by a blast of pure condensed power. With no way to retreat or escape, all she can do was to feel the death's embrace. A single tear sheds from her eye when she about to witness her own doom.

A blast from said attack burst through the arrays of buildings and into the ground. When it thought that it has killed its target, it instantly turned its back while the beam still fired, both Kiritsugu and Iri were still in shock from what they witness and they realized that they will also become its next victim. Before they realized, they were getting blasted by that beam. It was extremely painful as they felt even their own soul burning into ashes.

That giant isn't building anymore, it was akin to a Titan, like those Titans back in Greek mythology where they wage war against gods and they almost won. Servants, however,_ aren't_ gods. Its firing has ceased, with eyes shown with light as red as its bloodthirst. The night has begun to fall as their nightmare has now just begun. The remaining survivors will have to fight with everything they got or else, it will be the end of every one.

* * *

**"._.""._.""._."**

_**Angel of Doom**_

**"._.""._.""._."**

* * *

_**Words of God:**_ **For this part, play Evangelion - Angel of Doom**

The night has come and there is only darkness covering the surrounding, an immense pain coursing through the body. She opened her eyes and realized she is still alive. A combination of exhaustion and pain. That is the proof of her survival.

"What happened..." Kuro said tiredly after she recovered from what looks like her supposed death.

In her vision, she saw the man in green military attire, the legendary medic, Desmond Doss. By some twist of fate that he managed to save her life even in the brink of death.

"You finally awake, thank god that was just a massive amount of bullets and not a blast of pure energy. If that was the case, there won't be any 'body' left to save." Desmond said to her.

She takes a look at her self, bandaged from her head straight to her feet. She surprised that she supposed to be swiss chess and not being in one piece right now. She also notices her Master has also gotten here.

"Master? Thank god that you are alright," Kuro said to her Master.

"Yeah, Desmond pulled a surgery with precision and speed that would make many top speed Servants jealous but that is beside the point. We are here because we are now in a dire situation and by I mean 'dire', I mean that we are going to be annihilated!" Her Master said with a bit of sarcasm and panic in his undertone.

"Wait! Where are Mama and Papa? Desmond-san! Do you know where are they?!" Kuro said frantically when she realized what she is missing.

Both Desmond and her Master take a heavy gulp which signifies that something horrible has happened. She wanted to deny that fact, she doesn't want to accept the reality that her parents are-

A single drop of blood drops on her forehead and she looked up and realized that there is no more denying as she looked at the undeniable truth. Her own pupils shrink in horror and despair as her realization unfolded in front of her. Her own parents' lifeless bodies and pools of blood were on top of her the whole time. Her own heart feels that they just wanted to cease beatings upon this image.

"No. No, **Nooooooooooo!**" Almost like having a breakdown, her own denials make her wanted to rip her gut out in pure disillusion. Her own cognitive dissonance wanted to rip her apart from the sheer guilt.

Gudao can only look in silence, he initiates communication with the Shadow Border.

"Da Vinci? Can you prepare Emergency Evacuation?" Gudao asked with a serious tone in his voice.

"Master? What happened?!" Da Vinci on the other side of the communications asked when she was asked about that very subject. Emergency Evacuation was developed to escorts the Master and nearby Servants from danger back to Shadow Border when things have flown beyond anyone's control.

"We... We have-" Before he said anything, Desmond held his hand on Gudao's communicator and signal him where the body of Kiritsugu and Iri are.

The wife who still held tightly to her husband as the man started to slowly rise up from the pool of blood. He stood up and walked painfully while blood is still dripping from both of his and his wife's wound. Iri's Noble Phantasm has saved their life as it allows those under its effect to survive one fatal attack no matter how powerful it is. His walking is slow but with each step, he stood straight and looked at the Titan which is now searching for them, wanted to annihilate everything that it has deemed as a threat.

There is only a look of nothingness in his eyes. Of a man who wanted someone to die and he'll make damn sure it did.

That very moment burned into Kuro's mind, of a man, with a determination and a will of steel. She made her mind and decided that she will be the only person who will put a stop to that Titan's rampage. She has the power and she will do so in her parents' stead.

"Kuro! Where are you going!? Your injuries aren't healed yet!" Gudao said to the tanned little girl as she rushes outside.

"Bring Mama and Papa to somewhere safe! If they receive any more damage, it will spell the end for them!" Kuro said to her Master.

He hates that she has a good reason to say so, Kiri and Iri got extremely grievous injuries and if they decided to do something. They will most likely die in the process.

**"By the power of my Command Seal!" **Gudao held his hand and about to use his command seals.

"Master! You possibly can't-" Kuro said as she thought the very man who she trusted would get in her way of retribution.

**"Use this renewed power to destroy that Titan for once and for all!" **Gudao said with conviction, he put all of his faith in her as the last hope of breaking through this dilemma.

She was dumbfounded by his trust, she was too hotheaded in order to think clearly when he held his Command Seals but now with vigor whirling through her body. There is only intent behind it. To destroy that monstrosity for once and for all.

She rushed to head out and reach for a vantage point to snipe that Titan with the strongest weapon she has, the Excalibur. She has better circuit quality and mana reserves than her brother but that doesn't mean she would know how to use it to the strongest. But nonetheless, it is all bet on her.

"Desmond, take them to safety. They aren't allowed to fight until they are in better health." Gudao said to Desmond.

"Understood. You better run for your safety. This thing will destroy you in the instant it found you and it will be game over if it did so." Desmond told the man.

Both of them handshake each other and wish each other luck. Now the fate of everyone is resting on Kuro. She has to do this or it will be the end of humanity's last hope.

Meanwhile, Arnold, Alfin, Pierce, the Finnish, Richard are witnessing the Titan's rampage on the distant horizon and they understand the emergence of the situation right now. And so they are rushing toward it. In hope of stopping its destruction.

"Shit! Have things turned this bad already!? I'm surprised that the Nazis didn't take action when this level of destruction is being displayed!" Richard said when he saw the burning horizon created that shines even the dark night.

"Hey, you! The white coat! Do you know what that thing is!?" Arnold asked the Finnish because if there is anyone that would know the threat better, that would be the Finnish.

The Finnish sees that thing while remaining in silence, it reminds him of those worst times and the turning point of history itself. He utters the answer for he himself has personal experience with it once.

"Pavlov's house. The very turning point of WW2 history, seen by its enemy who was crushed under its might. It was Soviet's symbol of resistance." The Finnish said as if he has witnessed it himself before.

"You... You identified it just by seeing it!?" Pierce said as he attempted to keep up with the Servants who were obviously making him eat their dust. His feeble attempt at Reinforcement gives him a slight boost to keep up and that is all there is to it.

"Is there any way to destroy it?!" Alfin asked the Finnish again.

"That... I have never found it if there is any way at all in the first place. In history, that apartment held up against the continuous German's onslaught for it is the critical location in the Stalingrad and they did so for two months and thus marked the end of the Battle of Stalingrad. From there onward, it is Soviet who takes back their stolen land and supposed to wipe Berlin of the face of warfare. Until that dictator managed to find leverage and annihilated both of the deadlocks from Allied soldiers and Soviet soldiers and from there onward, Soviet is annihilated and forever gone from the history of this timeline." The Finnish said.

All of them are looking at that giant figure as it razing the buildings below it to find anything at all. There is no way to hide anymore as its destruction will alert all of the Nazis' personnel and they will all be man hunted. All they can do is that they can still look forward to tomorrow in the first place.

Meanwhile, Desmond is carrying both Kiritsugu and Iri after having treated their wounds. Their wounds were much more serious and they were on brink of death in about a second but he managed to save both of them simultaneously with a speed that probably makes Nightingale red in jealous.

Now, his next step is to bring them somewhere safe, carrying two people at once does hamper his speed a bit. Not that he can't carry more but he has no more place to carry without accidentally drop them off somewhere. That Titan or to be exactly "Pavlov's House" is scouring everything up to find anymore thing to kill.

"I have to get away from it as far as possible." Desmond thinks while carrying two heavily wounded people on his back.

He doesn't know how they could advance any further anymore. Even survival is just unthinkable at this point.

Meanwhile, Kuro has gotten to her vantage point. She stood on the possible highest point that wasn't destroyed yet. Looking at that 'Pavlov's house' in pure disgust and hatred, she channels her mana in order to create the only weapon that could stand up against it.

_Trace on!_

She said her spell after she grasped that weapon in her inner soul. The sword started to take shape and begins to form. In a matter of seconds, the Excalibur in its glorious light appeared in her hand. But this isn't enough yet, as powerful as Excalibur can be, she only has one shot and she will have to use it to its full efficiency and that is to turn it into an arrow. But to turn Excalibur into an arrow is equal to understanding its fundamental. In other words, pure impossible for a human. However, she isn't human, she is a Servant and she has received the power required to do so. There is no turning back, she stood her ground and traced her bow and begin the process of turning it into an arrow.

The Excalibur started to glitch out like a broken TV, it is what would happen if it was forced to change it form. However, Kuro has used Excalibur as a Broken NP arrow once and it didn't harm her as far as she concerns. The process of forming the Excalibur arrow requires time and the more mana she has the faster the process but she doesn't have the luxury of doing so. But that won't be stopping her at all. Keeping the arrow charged mana, its bright light started to illuminate the dark raining night.

The Pavlov's House seems to notice something as it started to move faster from power walking into full running. That move completely caught everyone else off guard for they assumed it would slow-moving that completely shatters that belief. It was like watching hungry beast trying to devour its prey alive.

Desmond's tried to outrun it but it was to no avail. If he runs for a kilometer per second, that damn thing would run a mile per second. The moment the Titan got what it suspected confirmed. It swings its arm in order to swat Desmond and his patient into a mess that would be even worse than splatter. In doing so, it razed the entire section of the city in fell swoop and a large amount of rubble got thrown into the sky and some of them is even a large slab of rock and stone. Desmond managed to narrowly avoid his death in a hair breath but he stumbled by its attack and fell into the ground, he looked at it and fear spreads through his body. He wishes that God is still with him for there is no way for him to run away from it anymore

Those rubbles that were flung into the sky soon fall into barrages upon the incoming group that is trying to stop its rampage and a large slab that is about ten of the size of humans landed in front of them.

"We need to stop that damn thing now or there won't be the next day for us!" The Finnish said as barrages of rubbles keep landing on where they are.

"Wait! Is that!? That little tanned archer is trying to defeat that Titan but it might notice her and she will be killed!" Alfin said as she saw a glimmering light in a distance.

Tension is rising high, their time is running out like a speck of dust in an hourglass. Arnold is the one that breaks the impasse as he gives out his solution.

"Quick! Carry that damn slab to her location so that we can guard it should it fire the beam of destruction like how you saw it happen on the horizon. Uses Reinforcement if you can because that is the only thing we can use against it." Arnold said his solution out loud for everybody.

They don't have any more solution and they will have to use the only solution they had now. The 4 Servants quickly pull the large slab of concrete out from the ground, by some miracle that it is still in one piece. The 4 of them carrying it and run as if their lives depend on it.

The light that Excalibur gives off is shining to the point that even the distance surrounding her location is basking in its light. The Excalibur has finally turned into an arrow but she still has one more process, charging it into a Broken NP. She pitched in with all she has. She felt so hot that her sweat is falling like with the rain and even the rain itself helps so little with her situation.

The Titan has noticed her presence and begins to turn its right arm into a cannon and aimed at her, ignoring its previous target. In the next moment, it fired.

"**Shit!**" Kuro thought when she saw that beam is about to slam on her body. She instinctively looked back as if she didn't want to face it

But her death never comes. The 4 Servants have made it in time and shielding her from the blast of destruction itself. Using their Reinforcement and everything they had, they gives her precious time that she needed.

"Hurry!" Alfin said to Kuro.

The Titan started to getting more pissed as it was so close to killing its target. Increasing its firepower output, it wanted to kill whoever it is protecting her and that girl herself.

The blast started to get more intense and the slab of concrete started to fall apart, the 4 Servants push themselves beyond their limit to just buy more time for her. The Excalibur is still being charged and it is nowhere being finished. It was almost hopeless as the odds were more and more against them. The slab of concrete that protects the 5 of them are now being fallen apart more and more as it started to become as small as the size of a car.

"We can't keep this on anymore!" Richard said as all of their death is getting more and more close.

And just when they thought death has claimed their lives, their last hope has finally arrived.

_**Rho Aias!**_

The shield of 7 petals appears in front of them. Completely protecting them from the blast, the crimson archer has finally arrived with the shroud covering his left arm flapping in the gale. His right arm keeping the shield up so that they blast can't reach them. He didn't come any second too soon for the very slab of concrete that protects them shattered into pieces as it ceases to fulfill anymore of its duty.

"This is your chance! Kuro!" Shirou said to his sister.

Steeling her determination, the arrow in her bow has finally broken charged and prepared to be fired.

"Now!" Shirou signaling his sister.

The moment she heard it, she let the arrow loose and it flew towards the Titan. Piercing through the beam, the arrow was indomitable against it. When it got close, the Titan uses the last resort and created a bounded shield to protect against it. The arrow was blocked but it doesn't cease to move. The shield started to get more cracked up the longer the Titan tried to block it. Soon, the arrow pierces through and bust right through the cannon of the Titan. And then, the power behinds it finally unleashed as the Titan was blown apart and the pillar of golden light pierces through the heaven, signaling that victory has finally belonged to them. They have made it, they have made it through the nightmare.

* * *

**Writer's Note: Now that I finally got this out, I can take a break from writing for now. The school has definitely not being kind to me and this year, it decided to tighten the rules to the scale of Alcatraz but on 11. Anyway, thanks for reading and hope that you enjoyed it.**


	9. Witches of The Night

**Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Chapter 9: Witches of the Night**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

_**Words of God:**__** For this part, play Evangelion - Thanatos**_

After the divine light of Excalibur has finally disappeared from this earth, the blazing horizon has died down. The only thing that remains was rain and wind and the sounds of thunders occasionally. The power behind the Excalibur arrow was beyond any fathomability as it destroyed the Pavlov's House in a single shot and its power can be felt from a radius of a few kilometers. Within those kilometers were only ruins as far as one can see.

Shirou rose up from the rubbles, being the least injured so far. He looked at all of the surroundings to see if that Pavlov's House is still there in any form. His suspicion was answered by the deafening silence barring the rain and wind.

Realized what he needed to do next, he quickly digs up the rubbles he was in to see if there is anyone buried underneath. Not even in a few seconds, he finally found the important someone of him, his sister.

Her eye closed dimly as if there is only emptiness in her eyes. He checked her pulse and her breathing and sighed in relief to know that she is only unconscious from over-exhaustion. Even with a Command Seal boosted, using Excalibur to maximum efficiency without having its original wielder's mana capacity is just asking for death.

Soon, there are more of his allies rose up from the rubbles, they seemed to be fine enough.

"Are all of you okay?" Shirou asked them.

"Never would I do this again, no matter which time I was summoned." The Finnish said as he was having the fright of all of his life.

"Sorry, but we don't have any better choice left. At least it ended with no casualties on our side." Arnold said.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It just that we probably will be facing more threats from now on. The Nazis won't sit still with this level of destruction." Alfin said.

"Me too, but I'm concern about my Master too, we just literally left him off," Richard said

They looked at each other silently, things will only go harder from here on out. They have to found Chaldea's Master and everyone else as soon as they can so that they could plan their next step.

"Well, let's move on, our Master can't search for us by himself with this situation like this," Shirou said as he climbed out while carrying his sister.

"Yeah" The rest gets out of the rubbles and soon follows Shirou. They can't do anything by standing still.

And so they headed out again. But they aren't out of peril yet.

**Somewhere in a far distance**

"So they are more powerful than how they let themselves," Reznov said as he analyzed how the entire thing unfolded.

"A lot more destruction than how we wanted, I would laugh my pant off if the Nazis still decided to do nothing about this," Dimitri said to his friend.

"We have returned, Masters" The trio of Heroes of Soviet Union has finally returned, even if tired, they didn't seem to appear with any grievous injury.

"Oh! My dear sister has returned safely! I thought I have lost you in that wildfire-" Dimitrii said in happiness as he saw a person that he decided that he was the closest to.

"For the last time, never have I said that I was your sister and the similarity in our names is just coincidence. Do you wish to have a bullet go squarely through your head?" The trench coat girl said as she was irritated by hearing it. But deep inside, she would be far more irritated if she doesn't hear it after every tough battle.

"We didn't manage to kill anybody at all, no casualties on our side either. All of this for almost no progress done." The man with ashen face said.

"And to think that our synchronized shot failed because our guns got jammed simultaneously when we aimed at the medic. I don't know how he did it but that is not normal and the rest is how you envisioned." The man with white gears and coat said.

"So those 9 Servants, does any of you know who they are after observing them?" Reznov asked the Servants.

The two male Servants don't even know one of the 9 Servants that they encounter. All they really know is fight and take down their enemies. The woman in the trench coat, however, knew that there is something familiar about those she fought.  
"Oh!? Do you perhaps know something about them?" Reznov asked the female Servant.

"I can tell a few considering that I am a _historian _after all_._" The woman answered back.

"First off, is the 'heretic'. That man, there is just something extremely unusual about him. He definitely belongs to this era but something about his arsenal and himself just doesn't fly with me." The woman gives her analyzing.

"Considering that you go head-to-head with him, I expect you to have the most information regarding him," Reznov said his assumption.

"First off, even when I shoot him, he doesn't bleed, nothing. Just nothing, he only looked at me like I am the lowest of all scums." The woman said back to her Master.

"I wonder what that means..." Reznov thinking for a while as he said.

It was a brief silence but one that is irritating at that. It is like a puzzle that you know the answer is really close but can't exactly put what that is.

"Maybe that he hates communism so much that he bled clear blood?" Dimitrii gave his wild guess which for some twist of fate that was actually a correct answer.

"Hmm, perhaps that is the missing answer after all. Servants don't exactly follow the rules of humans so that symbolism may actually also a part of them. Good answer, Dimitrii!" Reznov celebrates his friend for able to give him a perfect clue while Dimitrii was just surprised that it actually worked.

"Also, his arsenals, I think it might actually not belong to this time. He brought out a vehicle that can fly like a plane yet can move in a tightly packed area without crashing into anything." The woman said.

Everyone else is now thinking in silence, trying to find even the faintest idea of what she meant. A picture meant a thousand words and that strike true even now.

"I know that I'm giving too little information for all of you to work on but trust me, you only know what I would mean when you see it for yourself. All I can say is that it does **not** belong to this time. The 'heretic' is definitely but what he brought out is obviously not." The woman said again.

"That is okay, good to know that you are fine despite you almost got hit by those bombs, definitely not the usual bombs that used to drop. I don't know if there is anything can cause such an inferno at all. Do you know anything else?" Reznov asked her for more.

"About the other, that medic who we tried to kill and got our guns jammed? Throughout my further observation, that man may have accompanied along with the others but something tells me that there is a lot more to see about him. The most important thing about him is that he has no weapons at all, I confirmed that he is a Servant yet he has no weapons or means to attack at all. If anything, he _can't_ fight at all." The girl said about further information.

"A medic who fought with no weapons at all. I don't know how he managed to do so but he has the real mettle to survive such a heated battlefield while having no means of retaliation. I got to respect him about it at least. Almost like divine intervention." Reznov commented about the man she described.

"The next is what I found to be the most fascinating to me. I don't know what that Master managed to do but he somehow tiptoed the restriction and brought in the legends of Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, assuming that is actually them basing from their weapons." The trench coat girl said.

"Ah yes, those crimson archers, the battle makes me forgot about the fact that the legends of olds are impossible to be summoned because of a secret German weapon managed to eliminate the moment they came into existence. Tell me more about it since you are a _historian _and thus you could explain it in better detail_.__" _Reznov got interested in what she said.

"This will be a long one, it all begins in old China where there is a blacksmith couple. The king of Wu who reigned at that time demanded a blade that would befit him and thus the said blacksmith couple has to make one. The result was a twin sword Gan Jiang and Mo Ye or also called Kanshou and Bakuya in Japanese. But the story of said blades was not the happy one. Gan Jiang didn't know what to do and become desperate for an answer. Seeing the situation, Mo Ye decided to gamble her life and sacrificed herself. In back then, it was believed that anything forged with a human sacrifice will reach the realm of God. She threw herself into the furnace in front of her husband and thus helped the Essence of Five Mountains and Metal of Six Heroes meld. Gan Jiang forged the two swords in grief, and upon completion did he kept the Yang sword while only handing over the Yin sword. The king soon noticed said deception and soon furiously had Gan Jiang killed." The woman in the trench coat said.

"Next? Or does it ends there?" Dimitrii asked.

"Not quite, the blacksmith couple does have a son who ran away with the Yang sword after knowing what is going to happen to him and his father. The king wanted both of the twin swords and thus hired an assassin to find it. It took a while but the assassin finally caught the son but instead of killing him, he wanted to know the whole story. The son explained the story from his side and that he will train just to kill the king for making his family collapsed over his demand. The assassin told the son that he will do the job in his stead if the son decided to kill himself to prove it. The son did so without any hesitation and the assassin was moved by his decision and decided to keep his words. Later, the king has the head of the son boiled just to satisfy himself in the thought that he crushed all those who oppose him but the head remained the same throughout months and months despite being boiled constantly and the king started to grow anxious that he might be haunted from the son's spirit, the same assassin from before telling him that he has a way to resolve and telling the king to look at the inside of the boiling cauldron. When the king did so, the assassin beheaded him and also done the same to himself in order to make sure nobody would be able to tell the difference between them. When people found out what is going on, the only things in the cauldron are the three skulls and since they have no way to identify, they decided to build the tomb for the three of them and thus the conclude the legends of 'Tomb of Three Kings'." The woman in the trench coat said.

"So what does all of this means?" Reznov said.

"This is only a hypothesis but assassin in red cloaks is most likely the assassin in the story but what makes me felt wrong is that he used weaponry that doesn't exist for that time." The trench coat woman said.

"I guess he just uses anything that would help him, I guess?" Dimitrii said.

"A fair enough point, I guess? The hardest to distinguish though would be the little girl and that crimson shrouded archer/swordsman, both of them has significant proficiency with the swords which make it hard to understand which would be the king or the son and I didn't even account for the different gender according to known history!" The woman said.

"That would be best left to a better time, anyone else?" Reznov decided to switch the topic a bit since he felt that they might be treading into unknown areas.

"The next it would be best to say would be the one German uniformed soldier and the blond girl, the German guy run with a speed that seems to be unrealistic for modern Servants, the clothes he donned in seems to belong to WW1 era so I guess that he might be a runner, the blond girl is a complete mystery though for as far as I could observe." The woman said.

"I kinda expect a lot more than that but considering the heat of the battle, that is justified," The ashen-faced man said.

"And most importantly, the old man with cowboy hat and clothes that belong to the 19th century or specifically Wild West era, and that machine gun with 6 barrels definitely point him to only one person. Richard Jordan Gatling, the man who invented the first machine gun and laid out the groundwork that changed the entire face of warfare, he has also foreseen the possibilities of his invention and realized the bloody end when tactic and technology don't match with each other and the result was ultimately WW1 itself. That man is a threat to be reckoned with and not underestimated." The girl said

"It seems that we are done talking about our enemies, we shall now proceed to the next step, we shall mount another offensive to take them down once and for all, they are most likely at their last legs and this last blow shall cripple them for once and for all." Reznov decided to proceed when he had heard enough from her.

"You think that we also don't reach our limit yet, don't you? That Pavlov's house that I built cost a ton and took a lot of time to just build and you think that I can just build one right out of thin air?" The ashen-faced man said.

"Oh, Pavlov... I'm not talking about you, neither are Lyudmila or Zaitsev. I'm talking about someone different, someone who is a menace of the night and you should be glad that person is in our team.

All of them remained silent, they don't know what does Reznov is hinting at but they sure as hell glad that they are not at the receiving end.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Brief Respite**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Somewhere a fair bit distance from the ruins**

Not even after half an hour later did they finally managed to find their Master and others who were separated in the conflict. But at last, they managed to reunite and started to move to somewhere safer. At least, not being completely destroyed by the Excalibur. After they reached the nearest building that was still in contact, Emiya built a campfire and Gudao requests supply from Shadow Border's side. Kuro, Kiritsugu and Iri are now resting, Kuro simply lying against the wall, Iri doing the same while Kiritsugu rests on her thigh, the remainders who are still fighting condition will stay vigilance of whatever to come. They doubt that the Nazis can turn a blind eye to this any longer.

"So, what do we do now?" Arnold asked anyone if they know anything that he doesn't.

"Wait until tomorrow, nighttime is one of the worst time to have a fight against anything, Servants may don't care about it at all and maybe Gudao can be in it too but Pierce just simply a guy who knows how to command a Servant and don't have any specialty at all. Hell, he might also a real big target since his death is also equal to Richard's death" The Finnish gives his analysis of the situation.

They can't argue with that since Gudao can't deploy any Servants that aren't higher than 1900 in this Singularity, and those who fit in that bill were only a handful at most. Any manpower is important and they can't afford themselves to lose anybody at all.

"I have to agree with him with this one, once we get a much better grasp on our situation, we will proceed to continue our mission," Gudao commented.

"Master, I have done cooking up the stew, you need to get as much rest as you can. No army can function on an empty stomach." Shirou said to his Master.

"Yeah, I know. Just give me a bowl, I just hope that our situation can only go up from here." Gudao said to Shirou.

Alfin soon comes down from the roof after she checked for anything suspicious and entering through the window, the smell of nicely cooked stew struck her senses as she was captivated by it.

"It smells nice. What are you guys cooking?" Alfin asked curiously.

"Just some meat and seasonings to make stew. But even with having limited ingredients, I would say that I did my job satisfactorily." Shirou said to the enthusiastic girl.

Alfin quickly sits down and get her a serving, she quickly has a spoonful of it and the next moment, she stuck in that pose, motionlessly while the spoon is still in her mouth.

"Alfin, are you alright? Don't tell me that you got-" Arnold quickly checked up on her to see if there is anything wrong.

A single tear rolls on her pink-tinted cheek. Soon, she answered.

"Oh, there is nothing wrong. It just... I felt that nostalgia washed over me. Like reexperience a beautiful fragment of memory that you didn't know when it has bygone. It just struck me so much in my feelings." She said as if overflowing with emotions.

He swore that he saw her eyes got a bit livelier when she eats that stew but it is still full of sorrow in it. What has just exactly torn her apart that left her like this even as a Servant?

"Heh, I got called 'the mother of Chaldea' just because of my sheer cooking skill alone, it even makes many mother figures caught in some serious competition in Chaldea. Dear if I say that if I don't attend the kitchen duty in Chaldea, chaos would ensue because of my absence alone." Shirou said it jokingly

Everyone got a slight chuckle from it. If one were to wager, Shirou's household skills would create some serious competition against other well-known mother figures.

"Anyway, I'll go doing my watch guard duty. My Hawkeyes can see things in almost complete details even in the dark so all of you can take a rest if you wanted to." Shirou said before he goes outside and leaped to the top of the buildings.

"Russians, those damn morons just don't even know when to stop." The Finnish said irritatingly.

"Well, I could actually feel with you about that, only those barbaric Japanese soldiers in the war I was deployed in could probably surpassing them in savagery," Desmond said to his friend.

Arnold listens to the chatter in silence. In the war he was in, to having things felt serene are the most next to impossible in the bloodiest mess called WW1. Because of it that he savors every second of it because nobody would know when would be the last time they would hear the voices of their close allies.

Meanwhile, Shirou is observing the surrounding, the cold rain and gales don't make his job any easier but it is his duty and he will fulfill it to his best.

"Damn, if this is just the second ring then I would fear for my Master if we have to proceed in any further." Shirou thought as he keeps his lookout.

The soaring thunders light up the sky for a brief momentary and in that brief moment, Emiya saw a squadron of planes is moving somewhere. It was only a brief moment so that he can't quite tell where it is heading or what kind of plane exactly. He puts up his guard in case they were hostile planes that are aiming to take them down. After that mess they created, a single squadron seems to be underwhelming for a squad that is sent to infiltrate in the first place.

"I could probably just destroy all of them with my arrows but I would prefer to not draw too much attention that would harm my Master." Emiya as he mumbles his single line of thoughts.

Suddenly, Shirou picks up something with his Hawkeyes.

"Wait?! Those same planes from before and they heading here? Are my eyes playing tricks on me since I don't even detect or hear anything!?" Emiya thought as the oncoming threat is closing in.

He decided to at least warning his Master and allies. At least, they would be far more combat prepared for whatever to come. Emiya quickly jumps down from the top of the building and quickly enters it.

"Everyone! Something is coming! Desmond, bring the injured to somewhere safe. Master, take cover whenever necessary. The rest, prepare for-" Emiya said before he was interrupted by the threat.

A large explosion blew off the roof of the building they are in. Desmond quickly reacts and picks up the injured as he tries to find a way to safety. Arnold was taken by surprise and he didn't know what is happening in front of him. The Finnish, however, looks as if he understands the oncoming enemy.

**Rho Aias!**

Emiya quickly traced the same shield that blocked Pavlov's house's attack and used it to cover their heads. Has he done so any later, it would have been their deaths within the next instance. Those elusive fighters are bombing over their heads right at their locations. Completely silence and unseen. The shields basically blocking any of those bombs landing on them and potentially crippling them out.

Desmond keeps looking around, the shield of Aias is indeed powerful but it won't be covering their heads for long. Rushing out is simply death wish, especially with the patients he has to carry on his back. That was until the Finnish caught his attention as he discovered something. A wine cellar and it seems to go pretty deep, they probably didn't notice it since they were tired and only wanted to rest.

"You take the injured inside. We will fend them off." The Finnish told his friend.

Desmond carries the injured with him into the cellar, he can't fight anyway so he will put his faith in his friend and allies.

"We need to break this deadlock soon, Emiya won't keep that shield up for any longer. Anyone?!" Gudao said to his allies.

"Don't worry, I know what to do about this. But all of you here will need to cover your ears and eyes because this will going to be extremely disorienting. Emiya, pick the perfect moment to dispel that shield so that this step will work to its full efficiency." The Finnish said to everyone else.

Everyone quickly closed their eyes and ears except for Emiya who has to keep his shield up and keep his eye upward to know when to dispel it. Because of that, if he is going to be affected by whatever is going to happen, it will be a while before he could get back into the fight.

The Finnish materialized a large cluster of grenades of some kinds, he quickly pulls out the trigger pins of all of it before a second passed and threw it into the sky as high as he could. Emiya dispels the shield and quickly grabbing his Master so that he could get out of the potential disaster. All of this before another second fully passed.

A blinding flash of light and an extremely disorienting and loud noise burst from the cluster of grenade that the Finnish thrown. Even if it is just a brief moment, everyone quickly moves out as soon as possible. Even if it is brief, they have allowed all of them to break through the situation unscathed, for now.

"Master, stay and don't draw too much of their attention. I'll go out and try to assert the situation myself. If possible, I will try to reunite with everyone else if I could." Emiya told his Master as he put him down in another half-ruined building, Gudao will be fine as long as he stays there.

Emiya soon heads out by himself, the moment he peeked out, the sky started to flash by a large thunder revealed the entire sky itself. At that moment, he realized in horror what he is going up against. It is not just a squadron of fighter or any bomber. It was an entire corp filling up the sky, that moment burned into Emiya's memory as he didn't expect the enemy to be this large.

Emiya gathers back his composure and deciding the best course of action.

"This is bad, with this much amount of enemy, there won't be much time to deploy my Noble Phantasm, Hrunting is a maybe but anything else is not feasible, all of them consume too much time and I'll be a sitting duck during it." Shirou thought as he tried to find a good way to counterattack.

Chaldea has all of the good Archers at their disposal but in this situation, he is the only powerful Archer available in this fight. He would be far more confident if he has more of his allies and even if the enemies were flying Phantasmal Beasts.

Suddenly, a salvo of flares flew up in the air. Emiya saw them and they illuminated the hazy rain that clouded the atmosphere, revealing the 'witches' that nearby its parameter. Shirou saw it as both good and bad things, it may help him return fire without straining his eyes to observe in pure darkness but whoever is firing it is painting a target on themselves now.

"Damn it... I have to go out and save them from the danger they about to bring upon themselves." Shirou thought as he moves as quickly and silently as possible for he fears that something horrible is going to happen

**Back to Arnold and Alfin's position**

Her small figure dashing through the illuminating light, holding in her two hands are two flare guns that she fires them straight into the air. The moment the flare gun did its duty, she disposes of it and another one materializes in her hand in the place of the disposed of. Her face looks serene and peaceful but her surroundings are a complete far cry of her serenity. Bombs and shells hailing upon her, wanting her to become nothing but a bloody mess. Arnold is running alongside her, evading the hail of destruction that he doesn't even know where they are coming from, the deafening sounds of explosion remind him of something, unconsciously he whispered.

_Relieving all of what I been through  
With the last communion of my soul  
Rusting bullets with my own tears  
Relieving all of the sorrow of my own years_

The moment he has done his whisper, his vision clears up. Seeing everything almost clearly, like a beacon in the abyss. He doesn't even know why he has such ability in the first place nor why it suddenly came to use at this moment. But his line of thoughts got interrupted as he saw that dark plane is about to drop a bomb that would land right at her. All of his thought overdrive to the only thing in his mind. Saves her.

His legs push themselves to limit as they move with a speed that would make him equal matches with one of the most athletic Servants recorded. No movements or actions were wasted, he pushes himself towards Alfin with all of his strength behinds.

**"Alfin!" **Arnold's scream managed to broke through even the most disorienting blast.

Alfin didn't know anything better as she saw him running towards her, he embraced her and held her as tight as he could. The next moment, the bomb detonated and pushed both of them into the group of buildings. Arnold braced most of those impacts just to save her and both of them crash into the buildings.

Soon, there are no more of those explosions. It seems that the fighters have lost track of them or simply no longer care.

Alfin gathers her consciousness back. She was a little bit dazed by the previous attack but other than that, she is mostly fine. The same can't be said for Arnold though.

"Arnold!" Alfin said in horror as she sees Arnold's bleeding profusely as she broke off from his embrace.

His hearing is just ringing from being so close to the initial blast, his vision is blurring. An agonizing sense of pain courses through his body as if it wanted to rip his own being apart. He felt that he can't even keep his consciousness anymore. He heard Alfin's voice but it felt so distant that he can't even felt it through this deafening ringing that keeps going on in his ears. Soon he fell into darkness and all of his senses were cut off to the outside world.

He felt that he was too weak, he has too few means to fight back and especially against an enemy that can hardly be seen or heard. Perhaps, somewhere in his fragmented memories, there might be a way for him to fight back. Just maybe, that is the only thing he could do.

And so he drifted, into a hazy distant memory that he left in the furthest depth of his mind.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."  
A Glimpse To One's Past  
_Road of Torment  
_****"._."****"._."****"._."****  
**

* * *

He opened his eyes and hearing the sounds of drizzles falling. In his hands, is an envelope. It has the words _"To my brother" _written on it, the handwriting on the envelope makes him reminisce of something, something that was really close but felt distant. Considering that no one is bothering him, he assumes that it might only belong to him. He opened the envelope and checked the content inside.

_"Dear Brother_

_I hope that you are still doing well out there, although that is asking a lot considering where you are and the situation. I heard that so many people have died until this point and that the chance of you returning is very slim. But please, don't value your own life below military worths and statuses that you discard yours away. There are many soldiers in this world but you are my only brother._

_-Your beloved sister"_

After reading it, he closed the envelope again and put it into his side bag. There are many more letters inside, cluttered with mails and important documents that have to be sent from the frontline to headquarter and back. He sighed in the fact that he forgot even those who were really close to him. He stands up and walks out of the tunnel that was dug as holdout in case of artillery barrages.

Suddenly, he was kicked from his back into the muddy ground. He pulls himself up and looks at where the perpetrator most likely is. Needless to say, it didn't take much time to figure out why for the reason came out of the horse's mouth instantly.

"Heh, look at this filthy privileged bitch here. This moron not only getting better meals than us but also getting to ride with the captured motorcycle." A soldier who said to him in complete disdain and there are also a few more who are giving him the same treatment.

"Yeah! Not only that, he doesn't need to go into the frontline and die like us! We should give him a beating of his life!" Another soldier beside that man said.

Arnold was completely out of loops, he doesn't understand what is going on at all. Motorcycle? Better meals? He understands nothing about whatever they said at all. As far as his memory can concern, there is nothing that backing them up.

They pick him up by the shirt and Arnold can feel their killing intents, he felt that he has to do something or else things may turn for the worse. But, he doesn't need to do anything for the situation was defused by an officer who noticed what is going on.

A loud gunshot was heard and all of the sudden, things came to a stop. Arnold and the instigators both look at the officer who has fired his revolver into the air. One can tell that he isn't in a pleasant mood.

"First off, if all of you thinking what this man's duty is an easy job. You are dead wrong, even more than those frontline soldiers, his chance of dying is far higher than all of you combined and folded. Second, none of you can even know how to use the motorcycle at all. The only reason this runner here got it because he managed to pick it up on how to ride it without failure and if any of you tried to do the same, all of you will be 6 feet under with that motorcycle. Don't act like all of you are superior to anyone else when all of you are just infantry like one and the same. Do you want me to bring this matter to the martial court or not?" The officer rants in front of all of them.

The instigators lost their interest when the officer presented, their disdain is targeted to the officer but they know better to not creating a mutiny against higher-ranked personnel. All of them frustratingly moves away and seem to grumble about something but that doesn't matter anymore.

Arnold pulls himself up from the ground while the officer approaching him. The officer is, fortunately, friendlier than how anyone expected as he approaches Arnold and talks to him.

"Hey, are you alright?" The officer asked.

"I'm fine, thanks," Arnold said back to the officer.

*sigh* "This is started to become a much more common scene. War does have a massive toll on anybody's spirit and I can hardly blame them. Not to mention those staggering casualties that will only rise the more time goes on. It is going to a bleak future here." The officer said in a sad tone.

"Yeah, bleak indeed," Arnold said back.

"Oh, but anyway, here is something for you. I originally wanted you to give this to the officer that you received the bloodied document from but I guess I was too late huh?" The officer said as he handing out what looks like a stock or a holster or whatever it is to Arnold.

"Oh, that officer. But what is this?" Arnold asked as he remembered what happened in the previous frontline trench which is now taken by the Brittish.

"It is stock and holster combined, it is an essential part of the Artillery Luger. It is to store and preserve your gun from going clog with the dirt and mud from trenches and when you use it as a stock, it helps increase your firing stability." The officer explained to Arnold about what he has just given him.

"Oh, thanks. I guess?" Arnold said as he doesn't know how to respond in this situation.

"Just consider it a gift of mine. Plus, I have no use for this thing considering that I'm using a revolver anyway." The officer said to him.

"By the way, where do you know where my motorcycle is?" Arnold askes the officer. Although this is supposed to be his memory, his idea of what is going on is completely disconnected in the bigger picture.

"Don't tell me that you forgot about it already?! Fine, it is at the entrance to the supply convoy route. By the way, I need you to deliver this document to the headquarter." The officer answered and also gives him an assignment.

"Okay, I'll do my job." Arnold accepts his new assignment, should he reaches the end of this fragment of memory, he might attain the necessary power to fending off what is going on in reality.

He heads out to the entrance gate and saw the motorcycle parked in front of it, some soldiers are looking at it like seeing something entirely new themselves. Guess that this is a captured motorcycle so of course that it would attract such attention in the first place.

The motorcycle has its own carrying bags on each side, he checked all of the bags and see that one has mails and documents in it, the other one has a handful amount of stick grenades, the other has ammunition consists of rifle bullets and handgun bullets. When he decided to check the other bag and suddenly all hell broke loose.

"Shit! You there, get out of here as fast as you can!" The entrance guard said as loud as possible to get past the loud alarm.

Arnold realized that he doesn't have much time left and he most likely going to get pursued. He gets on the motorcycle and quickly speeds up and drive through the entrance and follow the convoy route.

He slowly controls his breath while his heart is beating rapidly from the sudden turn of event. He thought that at least this will be an easy journey and-

Before Arnold even finish his line of thought, his hope for an easy journey was crushed when two motorcycle riders begin to pursue him.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Arnold groaned when he looked at his back and saw his enemy chasing from behind.

When he suddenly gets caught into an unwanted chase, the two riders behind him begin to aim their revolver at him, trying to gun him down. Arnold realized it and when he saw a curve ahead, he makes a sharp swerve and managed to avoid getting shot by the two riders behind. He knew that he has to retaliate or they will shoot him to death. Realized that he still has the Artillery Luger and now having its stock, he quickly attaches the stock into the A. Luger of his. His stress keeps rising high for the fear that they might land a clear shot on him. Within that fear, he quickly tried to get over it. He holds his breath and stays calm and soon he looks back and fires the Artillery Luger back at the rider behind, with enhanced stability and accuracy, the bullet burst through a rider's throat as that man fell out of his motorcycle and crashed onto the ground.

Arnold attempted to do the same for the other rider but the other managed to fire another shot before him. His body moves on its own and managed to avoid a clear shot although he was grazed slightly by it. How he managed to do it on a motorcycle? No one could probably answer. He quickly fired his customized handgun and thus another one fall and out of the picture.

Arnold sighed, this is not something he would ever get used to. Now that he is in safety, he can-

More riders burst through from the less-traveled roads, it seems that they are intending to actually kill him. There are 5 of them and some of those motorcycle riders actually have sidecars and its passengers are aiming their rifles at him. This is a much more dangerous situation for they have all of the luxuries to fire their weapons stably at him.

"Oh god no! I can't possibly deal with this much of them simultaneously!" Arnold said as he quickly goes into full throttle in order to get away from them as soon as possible or if even possible in the first place.

At that moment, he realized that he still has other weapons with him, grenades. He quickly tried to grab one from one of his motorcycle's side bags. If it weren't for the twist and turns road which gives him room to swerve quickly, he would have been riddled with bullets long ago.

"Got it!" He managed to grab one and quickly pull the fuse out and time it carefully, he got only 4 seconds and miscalculation will be an end to him. He picked the time he believed to be right and threw it on the ground.

Whether by his actual skill or dumb luck, he received what he wanted in the end. The grenade exploded and took out the sidecar riders, the other remaining rider got disoriented by the blast and are on the verge of falling off. He decided to give the remainders a slight push and that slight push means a handgun bullet into the riders. They fell and crashed onto the ground and they are out of Arnold's sight soon afterward.

Arnold breathes shallowly. In truth, he didn't get out of the firefight unscathed, the reason he can ignore the pain in the first place is due to his body keep pumping itself with adrenaline just to keep itself alive.

"Maybe I am safe-" Before Arnold has done saying to himself, he now has more pursuer on his back. This time, 6 riders are chasing after him and they have sidecars with them. To make the matter worse, the sidecars now having machine guns. He knows the horror of just getting pointed by those things alone, let alone getting shot by them. He has to act now or he'll be swiss cheese before he knows it.

Trying to grab another grenade but whenever he tried to do so, he can't swerve the motorcycle in order to avoid getting fired by them. He cursed himself, having his solution literally blocked because of those damn morons behind his back. Fortunately for him, his brain got another answer for him and he doesn't need to grab the grenade to combat.

He opens the bag that he didn't get the chance to do so before in the beginning. He grabbed whatever is in the bag and that very thing surprised him. A sawn-off double-barrel shotgun, that wasn't exactly what he expected considering what is going on right now.

The barrage of bullets are still hellbent on hunting him down, he realized that he has to act now or else. He aims the sawn-off at the enemy and pulls the trigger, and the wall of pellets came to approach the rider. When one considers how gruesome does getting shot by a pistol then a shotgun that Arnold uses would be ten-fold. Hell, he doesn't even need to shoot at the head, just the body shot alone would cause near-fatal injuries, not to mention what would happen afterward when you lost the control of your own vehicle.

And just like how Arnold expected, just getting hit by pellets alone make them lost control from the pain and they eventually came crash into other riders, Arnold fired another shot and the rest of the riders were soon out of the picture. If there is one disadvantage that Arnold can tell about them is that are pursuing him and thus receive more pain from his attack.

After got pursued for the third time, Arnold at this point don't even know where he is going, he just goes wherever this endless road is taking him. He is exhausted mentally and wanted to just fall off the road but he knew better than doing that right now. He decided to just abandon the hope of getting away from them for the rest of this journey.

The road seems to be expanded here right now, it can be a double-edged sword for all he knew, he may have more room to evade but it can be potentially more room for enemies. He decided that he will be going to deal with that should it happened. And he hit dead right on the head when he expected more enemies when he heard of loud vehicle noises.

"Why am I not even surprised?" Arnold said sarcastically when he looks back to see what he will be facing next.

And apparently, his assessment of this battleground where he will be fighting is also correct, for larger road means larger enemy. And the enemy he will be fighting now is a jeep with a machine gun mounted on it. This is actually even far worse than fighting a battalion of motorcycle riders considering that you only need to make them lose their balance or hit the critical part in the motorcycle to take them out of the fight, a jeep is a different story, you may attempt to shoot the jeep as many time as you want but you most likely going to get fed with hundreds of bullets before you manage to destroy a jeep mounted with the machine gun.

The jeep speeds up and quickly get to Arnold's side, Arnold's motorcycle can't speed up anymore and thus he can't overtake the jeep at all. The machine gunner quickly aims his machine gun and begins to fire a relentless stream of bullets at him. Arnold quickly decreases his motorcycle's speed to avoid getting shot by them and he quickly deploys his double-barrel shotgun and fires it as fast as he could with one hand, ignoring the potential damage to his wrist. At this point, broking his wrist is a preferable alternative to getting shot to death by the machine gun.

The wall of pellets created from Arnold's shotgun approach the machine gunner and soon a cloud of red mist formed from its victim's body. The man soon falls out of the jeep and soon gone from Arnold's sight. The driver noticed what happened and quickly tried to ram the man who killed his teammate. Arnold managed to evade that potentially lethal attack but his aggressor won't give up at all. The driver is constantly attempting to run over Arnold with his jeep although none of the attempts were successful.

The driver started to have enough of whatever he is going through and started to put his satchel on the gas and then start to reach the machine gun with all he had. Arnold realized what is going to happen and thus begin to speed up as fast as he could. In his sight, he realized that there is a hard curve ahead of him and going any slower would most likely getting him shot by the machine gun and going fast won't give him enough time to swerve his motorcycle. Arnold realized that he got stuck between a rock and a hard place and has little way to make it through this situation.

Arnold took a deep breath and put all of his faith into his timing. The driver has reached towards the machine gun and too furious to realize the hard curve in front of him. Arnold has already reached his maximum speed and thus this is will be an 'all or nothing', he let his own body to act accordingly to the situation. One wouldn't guess what excessive adrenaline could do to one's mind and body.

When the curve is getting even nearer, he leaned his body to the direction he needs to turn, the motorcycle is doing the same thing with him. He then holds the clutch and keeps the throttle on while leaning the direction he is going. The jeep driver at his back got control of the machine gun and aim it squarely on where Arnold's head would be.

His mind shouted a single word "NOW!" as he proceeds to break his back tire's traction and thus he and the entire motorbike of his drifted across the curve while still leaning. Such a sharp curve like that broke the jeep driver's fury for he was dumbfounded to see such an impossible move being executed in front of him. Arnold soon went out of the jeep driver's sight and the driver realized that he is rushing ahead into the trees.

The driver quickly jumps towards the steering wheel and turn it as quickly as he could. But unfortunately for the driver, it is too late for him either way. The jeep having its direction changed too abruptly decided that instead of turning into that direction, it decided to flip over and landed on top of its driver, killing him immediately with its sheer weight.

Arnold breathes in relief after he managed to escape for 3rd time, maybe 4th. He doesn't care anymore, he just simply lost count of all of them. He just wanted this hell to simply end right now. Anything just for this living hell to end. He is now simply driving on a straight road to who knows where while thinking his situation can't go any worse. He was proven wrong, for this time once again.

"Huh?" He said to himself when he heard the sound of the engine, but he looked around to see nothing at all. Well, until he started to look up at the sky and that moment did he realized just how desperate the enemy was just to kill him.

"They send a fighter plane after me?!" Arnold cursed himself when he is about to face up against his worst possible match up. Ground to air combat. A biplane is still far faster than his motorbike and not only to mention that they can fire their machine gun all they wanted at them. And the worst possible thing is that there is no known way to fight them back at all. The only way to take down a plane is with another plane, anything else just doesn't measure up against them.

He decided that his only hope of surviving is to get to the nearest possible outpost that he could reach. Otherwise, there won't be much chance of him surviving this charade, especially if the fight drags on to the point of unacceptability for him.

His only good course of action is to go full throttle as long as he could, the more time he spends on this godforsaken road, the more likely his chance of dying. And of course, the biplane will just leave him alone at all. The aircraft gunner begins to fire his machine gun at Arnold as Arnold quickly reduce his speed to avoid getting fired by the strafing fire from the plane. Arnold realized that there won't be much chance to take them down with his heavily limited arsenal like this. How exactly on earth would he retaliate against a biplane with grenades, shotgun, and pistol?! A rifle might be feasible but he doesn't have any right now-

"Wait!? Weren't all soldiers supposed to issue one at all?" Arnold realized something just doesn't fly with him, he can't possibly decline a weapon that would fulfill a critical niche at the right moment. Plus, he DID find rifle bullets in one of the side bags and he can't possibly have brought ammunition for a weapon he doesn't use.

Arnold quickly rechecks his entire bike while under heavy fire. There has to be something that might help him, he just knew it. Before then, Arnold felt something envelop his entire body. No, it wasn't a feeling of dread or fear of death or anything remotely close. It was a mist! Both he and the biplane entered the mist and thus both of them can't see each other at all. Considering how bad the weather can be on this battlefield, this event is possible to be encountered. This mist has saved his life. Now, he just needs to find the necessary weapon to fight back against the biplane.

"Yup! I can't believe that I completely overlook this thing that I literally hung by my side." He said as he takes out the rifle with one hand. Just in the next second, the mist cleared up and the same biplane from before begins to attack him. He at least has a way to fight back, even if it is not gonna be any effective, at least it would be far better than anything else he has.

He positions himself carefully for if the aircraft gunner manages to land a clear shot at him. It won't be just a bullet, it will be a barrage and all of that is right at him. Plus, firing a bolt-action rifle one-handed won't be simple and fun at all for his wrist.

He aims the rifle with only one hand at the pilot, he heard that many have tried to shoot down planes with only shotguns and machine guns and they all failed and his chance of making that same mistake won't be any lower than them. At least taking down the crew will be far easier than taking down the biplane itself. With adrenaline started to pump up through his blood, feeling every sensation to a magnified degree. He felt that his own perception of time is slowing down to a point that he swore he saw bullets flying themselves. With the rifle's iron sight at the head of the pilot, Arnold's mind took the decisive chance and quickly act. Arnold's hand reacted accordingly and a bullet came out of the rifle he fired.

In a matter of seconds, it seems that Arnold managed to land a shot right at the pilot by looking at how the biplane started to nosedive into the ground, but he forgot about one important fact, it is about to fall towards him!

When Arnold realized that fact, he quickly positioned himself to avoid getting crushed by the falling plane. It is needless to say that the crash didn't go out without a bang. Arnold who looked back at the burning piles of rubbles that is soon leaving from his sight, he felt so surprised that he managed to keep up against all of the crap that was thrown at him. He just hopes that he didn't reach his limit right now and that it will finally be the end from here on out.

"Yes! Finally! I'm going to make it!" Arnold said as he finally saw an outpost, a quite heavily guarded one at that. He could tell that it is on his side, that is what he can believe.

He throttles the motorbike so that he can finally reach closer to his victory, but it seems that this is his final stretch and it will be the one to decide whether or not he will make it through the day.

Arnold felt something is extremely wrong, the kind of wrong that makes one go from completely fine into great anxiety. He looked back and it started to dawn on him that he is now on the hit list. An entire corp is after him, motorcycles, jeeps, planes. They decided to go all out just to kill him after seeing him put up such a show like that.

"Oh hell no!" Arnold said as the entire army behinds he is chasing him down as if thirsting for his blood. Hell, he has a better chance of survival by shooting himself in the head with a well-maintained semi-auto pistol at point-blank range than fighting all of them head-on.

Arnold knows that his only hope of survival is the outpost and thus he has to push his motorbike to his limit. If he dies here, there won't be any hope left. He quickly goes full throttle as his life is on the line, ignoring the hailing bullets and bombs that wanted to erase him from the face of this earth. The final stretch to the outpost is simply just in a hundred meters but Arnold felt like he has to make his final round around the world just to make it there.

Ahead of him is an extremely sharp curve, even more than the previous one that he faced. At this point, it might as well be a U-turn. He knew he managed to drift from the last curve successfully, it is just the same principle being applied here. He just needs to put more effort into this one. Under the hail of bullets he went, he applied the same technique from before. Holding the clutch while still going full throttle. From outsider's look, it might look like a suicidal attempt but Arnold knows better of this entire situation. Leaning himself and his bike into the direction he wanted, he quickly breaks his back tire's traction again and drifted across the extremely curved U-turn. One wouldn't be left surprised by the technique he did as he narrowly avoided his death, both of the corp and the crash.

Needless to say, the entire corp that was after him can't pull the same trick like him and thus just came crash onto the trees and each other and Arnold is definitely not one of them.

With the final batch of meters ahead and the outpost ahead of him, the guard quickly opened the gate but not fast enough for Arnold to keep driving. At this point, he might come crash into the bar itself. But Arnold decided to make one final show of this entire charade and he quickly skids his bike and leans himself low enough to avoid hitting himself against the bar on the head. His performance impressed everyone there and left all of them in awe.

With a final stop, Arnold managed to made it through the hell that he went through, he simply parks the motorbike right at where he stopped and head straight for the communication quarter, which was connected by a tunnel that was dug for the purpose of protection against artillery barrage. He has a much better chance of surviving there than staying out in the open.

"Woah!" Arnold said as he almost got hit by a barrage of bullets from a biplane while he is running, almost everyone else quickly getting themselves armed to fight back against the invading enemies. Arnold realized that he needs to act faster now or else.

He enters the tunnel and thus safe from outsider's attack, for a while of course. He sees everyone else frantically getting their weapons and getting outside to fight the oncoming invaders while he just simply trying to not get in their way. At long last, he sees it, the communication quarter. He quickly turned the doorknob and soon a bright light engulfed him and his consciousness fell into the emptiness as he finally managed to get into the end of this journey. This journey...

He soon returns back to reality. With newfound power he has, he might finally have the mean it takes to turn the tide.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Dogfight**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

Arnold finally wakes up, all of the pain and agonies from before is gone, his vision clears up and the first thing he saw was Alfin.

"Alfin?" Arnold said as he felt unusually revitalized. The last time, he felt both the agonies from the injury both from reality and his memory. This time, all of them are gone.

He looked around and saw a familiar face. He now realized that it is no wonder why he actually is in a better form than before. That legendary medic that survived that madhouse of this time has come to save him.

"Hey, you're finally awake. Thank god that I got here in time, you were pretty much on the verge of dying right there. Thankfully, the white hawk that Alfin sent helped me find this location." Desmond said to Arnold.

"Scree! Scree!" The white hawk sitting on Alfin's shoulder said to Desmond but no one but Alfin understands what it said.

"Wait! What about the other patients?" Arnold asked Desmond.

"They are safe, I can assure that at least. Anyway, I need to find the Finnish so does any of you know where he is?" Desmond answered and then asks the others.

"We don't know but I'll send Silbern out! Silbern, move out!" Alfin said as she quickly commands the hawk to fly out. Thankfully it is still pitch black outside so it wasn't detected for now.

"So how are we going to fight back now? We can't even see or hear them at all. Trying to illuminate the sky is too much of a risky move." Desmond said as he looked at the outside and seeing the bombing going on in the distance.

Arnold thinks in silence, he just unveiled another fragment of his power and wondering if using it right now is a good idea.

"Alfin. I am going to draw all of their attention. You will take Desmond to the Finnish." Arnold said to Alfin.

"What! You almost got yourself killed there! How could I trust that you wouldn't do that same mistake?!" Alfin scolds Arnold as loud as she could, ignoring the potential danger that all of them might get spotted.

And it seems that Alfin let her emotions get the best of her for the enemies seem to have used Alfin's loud voice to find where she is. In the next moment, they quickly bomb the building they are in.

"Well, nice job! I am going to make a run for it! Good luck on your own guys!" Desmond said as he rushes out amid the massive bombing outside.

Arnold realized that he doesn't have any time left to sit still and thus he tried to find any way to summon his motorbike, this is an entirely new thing for him so he wasn't sure what to do. He tried to reach for the sealed armory within his mind and see if anything has changed. Time slowed down, and soon he found himself there.

Arnold looked around to see if anything has changed since his new memory, the same sawn-off double-barrel shotgun from before lying on the desk, the Artillery Luger now added a stock into it. He checked the journal on the table and see that there is more in it than the last time he checked it. He didn't read the detail but that has proven that something did change.

The biggest change there has to be the motorcycle now parked there in the middle of the armory, he could swear that it wasn't there before. He held the handlebar of the motorcycle, feeling as if he has reached something that he didn't know forgotten from his mind. He sits on the seat and turns the handlebar around just so he could refamiliarize with it once again.

Knowing what he needed, he moves the motorcycle towards the exit and prepares for what to come. The blinding light shower upon him as he opened the gate and then moved towards it. He didn't know when did he found this normal but he knows that he has to if he wanted to reach towards the truth of him and what happened in this world. He moves through it with his motorcycle, believing that he has what it takes to turn the tide.

Back in reality, the building they are hiding in is crumbling, rubbles are falling from on top. Alfin looks in worry but she started to notice that something is flying in the air, she realized that it is burning cinder that is flowing around her. She quickly looked at Arnold and saw that he is holding his right hand on his chest as if praying for something. Something is materializing in front of her as it taking shape. She looks at it intently, forgetting the impending doom that is about to land on her. Before she realized it, the motorcycle materialized and quickly did Arnold get on it as soon as he can.

"Get on here, now!" Arnold told Alfin as clear as he could through the loud explosions.

The roof finally gives in and exposed two of them for the enemies to bomb them into oblivion, Alfin gets on to the back seat of the motorcycle and Arnold quickly throttle the motorcycle and moves as quickly as he could. In the next moment, they burst through the wall of the building while the explosions were still going on from behind. Now, this will be their counterattack

_**Words of God:**__** For this part, play Initial D - Dogfight**_

As both of them now riding on the motorcycle, Arnold's motorcycle moves with an ungodly speed that he didn't expect it to be. With his enhanced senses and Servant's modifier, Arnold drives his motorcycle through the ruined landscape with a speed that can hardly be matched. He drifts his motorcycle throughout the turning skillfully to the point there is no point in him slowing down.

With the attention he is creating, it is only in time that the enemies would have their attention caught by him. Arnold continuously drives and drifts through the hard curves like driving on a straight road. There are many times that he could have easily crashed into something but that has never happened at all.

His vision flared up, like a burning fire through the moonless night. He could see everything with an almost clear vision. He sees there are many planes flying above him and prepare to drop their bombs on him. Not that he will give them the chance to do so at all. Even if what he sees is just outlines of them, that is more than enough.

Arnold looked around and saw a half-collapsed building that was leaning on the side, he could easily use it as a ramp to leap towards greater height than where he is. Taking his chance, he throttles his bike and moves towards the building. With the speed he is driving, it will definitely going to take him to the greater height. His eye staring intently, not letting anything else to cloud his thought as he drives toward the 'ramp' and he with his motorcycle move toward the sky.

For once in his life, this was his first time to actually be in the sky. The feeling of having nothing in his way was actually satisfying in a way but that didn't make him forget his objective in the slightest. His vision is clear, even in the pure darkness. He heard eerie sounds surrounding him like listening to an orchestra consists of only extremely silent harps. He knew what exactly there is, the planes of the night that can hardly be heard or seen, that is what he is about to go against.

With a bolt of lightning in the distant horizon illuminated the sky for a brief moment, he saw all of them, despite that flash of light, they still remain the silhouettes of pitch black. Materializing his sawn-off shotgun, he fired at the closest plane and the next thing happened is that the plane exploded into smithereens. He observes the surroundings as much as he could before the light went out. Before everything turns to darkness. Within his last second, he redirects his motorcycle to land right on top of the closest plane and pushes it towards the ground.

An explosion followed and Arnold still continues to drive. Although it was a rough landing, both Arnold and Alfin are still in fine condition and the same goes for the motorcycle. After such a performance, it is clear that the enemies can't ignore them anymore and thus all of their focus is on Arnold and Alfin. Everything is now going according to Arnold's plan, to direct all of the enemies' attention in order to give others the time to go for a full counterattack. His plan is now going on motion and no one will notice it until it is too late for them.

Now, it is just up to others...

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

**_Brothers in Arms_**

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Back to Desmond's position**

The medic is now simply running towards nowhere, he just runs in the hope that he might at least able to get away from the unseeable enemies. Whatever it is, his next task is to find his friend, the Finnish. He might have an answer for whatever they are up against. But running in the darkness wasn't the best course of action he should take but he doesn't have many options left.

Desmond is hardly able to see anything, other than the bombing that running off in the distance. There is hardly any way for him to locate where anyone is. He is able to see himself but anywhere more than 5 meters away from him would be undiscernable.

"Dear God, please give me a sign to find my friend." Desmond prey so that he might be able to come across something.

"Scree! Scree!"

Desmond heard something and he quickly came to a stop, the white hawk from before is now flying right above his head is trying to tell him something.

"Wait! Do you know where my friend is?" Desmond tried to talk to the white hawk, he doesn't expect a clear response though.

"Scree! Scree!" The white hawk tried to tell him something and then it flies away towards a direction.

Desmond doesn't have any much choice left, he decided to follow the hawk and sees where it is taking him. He jumped from towards the top of the buildings and from there he leaped one to another in the direction that the hawk flew. It is just a blind guess but it is far better than to stumble in the dark.

Desmond leaped again and he came to crash into someone as both of them fell into the ground. Desmond was dazed by the sudden stop but he looked at the person he crashed onto, it was the Finnish!

"You! I finally managed to find you!" Desmond said in happiness as he held his friend tight to the point the Finnish felt suffocated.

"I know that you are happy to see me but for god's sake, don't kill your own friend with your bear hug! You can accidentally kill someone with it!" The Finnish yells at his friend to stop.

Desmond stopped immediately and dropping the Finnish at the ground. He has many questions to ask right now and the Finnish is easily the best person suited to answer them.

"First off. Did the white hawk guides you toward me?" Desmond asked because of the chance of two people collide with each other in the pitch-black night is ungodly slim.

"Yeah, I was searching for you too. Until that hawk guides me in the direction that I can find you. I don't know if this is its cruel joke because this was all too crafty that I don't think this was unintentional in the slightest." The Finnish said.

"Ok, can you tell me the identity of what we are up against? I know that is asking a lot out of you and-" Before Desmond completely said, the Finnish answered in a heartbeat

_"Night Witches_, that is who they are." The Finnish said with confidence as if he already knew who they are just from the first sight.

"Night Witches?" Desmond wasn't particularly clear, which is forgivable that his call of duty is in the Pacific Theater, not Eastern Front.

"Unexpected, undetected. That is the main point of what they are. Completely meld into the night, there is almost no way to detect them once they set their sight on you." The Finnish said as if he knew who they are personally.

"How can we fight them off?" Desmond asked, in hope that the Finnish may have the solution. However, contrary to his expectation, the Finnish said with resignation.

"You can't. There was a guy I know who managed to shot down like 4 of them in one night and he was nicknamed 'Hexenjäger' and was highly awarded for his feat. Unfortunately, he didn't live through the war and most likely will be a Phantom Spirit. The NP is there but will most likely never usable in the first place." The Finnish said.

"Dear God... How can we fight them off?!" Desmond started to go into a panic, listening to how they are up against such a threat.

"There is a way though, that is to make it through the night. Knowing the witches, they will most likely bomb the whole place down to smithereens before daybreak. What Arnold did was to stall for more time and practically not feasible for an extended period." The Finnish gives his analyzation.

"So what are we going to do? Stand still and do nothing!?" Desmond grabbed his friend by the collar and shaking him, denying that there is no way that his friend would be stumped like this.

"And that is precisely why I'm not going to be a sitting duck, even if our effort is not going to amount to anything, it is still far better than do nothing. Even if it is going to boost our chance of success and survival by little, it is still a gamble worth taking." The Finnish said back to his friend with determination despite showing the words of resignation, it is surprising to see that he would change his stance by a lot within such a short time.

"Scree! Scree!" The white hawk from before flying above their heads is trying to tell them something and then flew towards a direction.

Both of them now proceeds to move out in the direction of the hawk. Believing that there might be a way for them to fight back, even if is little.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**A Legend's Reborn**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Back in the cellar that Desmond dropped the Emiya's family**

"Ugh, my body still feels aching. Why is everything so dark in here?" Kiritsugu said tiredly just as he woke up.

"Kerry? Where are we?" Irisviel asked her husband for the answer but he is as just as clueless as her.

"Even with a Command Seal, it is still so exhausting trying to trace that Excalibur and uses it beyond its capability limit. Never again..." Kuro said just as she awoke from her slumber.

All of their injuries are healed but their stamina is still greatly sapped from the previous encounter. But they knew that something is wrong because they knew everyone else won't drop them off somewhere like this without a good reason. Kiritsugu tried to communicate with Shadow Border and almost in an instant they were shaken by an explosion.

"What just happened!" Kuro said.

"I don't know but they are definitely nothing good at all." Kiritsugu assesses the situation from what happened so far.

"That must also mean that our Master in trouble too!" Irisviel said.

"We need to help him, now!" Kuro said as she understood the emergence of the situation.

All three of them rushes out to see the situation for themselves and what greets them first is the sight of Shirou's dodging the bombing. It seems that his attempt to track those who got lost ended up netting him into the target of the witches. Shirou's maneuvers were fast enough to avoid getting bombed while still leaving him enough time for counterattacks.

Shirou traced a Hrunting and aims it at where he suspected to be the most likely place of his enemy. He chanted the weapon's name as it turns into arrow's form and soon he let it loose towards the enemy. His Hawkeye let him sees in complete darkness with complete details and that includes those elusive witches.

Soon an explosion came and Shirou came to a stop, he breathes shallowly from exhaustion. It seems that this wasn't the only witch he has fought.

"Shirou! Are you alright?!" Kuro tried to catch her brother's attention but the next instant, he grabs all three of them and moves with blinding speed. In the next instance, the place where they stood was bombed while the three including Shirou crash into a nearby building.

"All of you stay here, don't go outside at all without my permission," Shirou told all three of them as he let them go from his embrace.

"Shirou! What is going on right now!?" Kiritsugu asked his son why he was suddenly being enforced.

"Those unseen enemies are out there are willing to blow us to pieces. All three of you are not in combat condition and will be at risk if done so." Shirou told his other family members.

"Wait, like what those bombers are?!" Kuro asked her brother.

"Yeah, I supposed to find the others but we got so stray afar from each other that it might as well be a lost cause," Shirou said.

"Wait? Where is our Master!?" Irisviel asked her son.

"Don't worry. He is in a safe location, he knew better to not drawing his enemies' attention towards himself." Shirou reassures his mother.

"Good to know but what can we do?" Kiritsugu asked his son.

"I suggest that all three of you would stay here and not making your enemies bomb your location. If you felt revitalized enough, go for the hit and run tactics. Always on the move, if you feel something is wrong or something approaching, act now and preserving your life is a must." Shirou told all three of his other family members.

"Well, that is understandable. But you should catch your own breath or the thing that will get you will be fatigue and not an enemy." Kiritsugu advises his son.

"Understood," Shirou said reluctantly but he knows better in the slightest.

Shirou looks at the outside to check if those witches are still hunting him. But he notices something wrong, something that stands out completely among those witches. Those witches use biplane for complete elusiveness but standing out among all of them he notices is a WW2 fighter. Why is something like that is there he wonders?

And soon he realized why that plane was there, it was fighting the witches. Its flight path, maneuvers, attacking moments, they were all planned carefully with intents and purposes. Soon, three and four of those planes ended up in flame and soon exploded. There is only one thing for sure and that fighter's pilot is a Servant, but who? That they might never know. At least, their goals align with each other for now. Whether they will be enemy or ally can only be left to fate.

**Meanwhile, back at Desmond and the Finnish**

Both two of them are still running in the direction that the hawk guided them. Surprisingly, they didn't get bombed at all during their running. Both of them take good use of the chance that Arnold has given them and moving as fast they could.

"You know, I kinda wish that we had the said 'Hexenjager' or whatever in our side. It would have saved a lot of pain that I had to endure." Desmond said.

"Just suck it up, you survive even worse stuff and now complain about this?" The Finnish said to his friend.

Both got a slight chuckle but they admit it is true, they honestly need more manpower if they want to reach anywhere near the heart of Reich, Berlin. Even if it is just one more Servant, it would tip the scale greatly in their side.

While the Finnish is running, a piece of paper drops in front of him. He simply grabbed the paper and reads the content inside it but in the next moment, his face turned into an expression that felt like something has just dawned upon him. He quickly materialized his rifle equipped with a highly sophisticated scope and battery and light attached to it. He aims the rifle at the sky and then looks at the scope. His expression keeps turning into something worse as he mutters.

"No... How?! How on earth did he!? Just how!?" The Finnish said in pure denial as if something that was in the realm of impossible just happened in front of him.

"Uhm? What happened?" Desmond asks in curiosity because there aren't many things would net him such reaction from the Finnish.

"Nothing... You go ahead, I'll catch up with you soon." The Finnish said while quickly rips the piece of paper to shred.

The Finnish stood there while Desmond keeps moving, he looks up towards the sky with a look of disdain.

"How you managed to reach the realm of heroes, that I don't know. But I knew damn sure that you aren't here just because of the Night Witches" The Finnish said while having an angry look on his face, he knew there is a lot more to this shitshow that is happening right now.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Witch Hunt**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Back at Arnold and Alfin**

With the wind still soaring behind them, a rain of ceaseless bombs still wanting to decimate them at all cost. Both Arnold and Alfin soon got used to this high-speed clash and managed to work well with each other. To the point that it is actually frightening.

Arnold has his skill with a motorcycle so great that even the straight-up U-turn at the speed of sound, he could make a perfect drift without breaking a sweat. Evading the rain of bombshells is the same thing but somehow far easier. Alfin in charge of retaliation against the witches by using her machine gun. Being a Servant, her machine gun became a bullet hose of pure unadulterated destruction. Arnold who is driving knows that being Servant obviously enhances everything including their equipment but it felt ridiculous to him because he felt that what she firing isn't bullet but sawblade.

They don't even know how much time has passed, it felt like time only moves when it wanted to.

The only moment when they could counterattack effectively is when the sky soars up with thunder. That moment is the only time when the witches can be seen. Most of the time, all Arnold could do is to change gears and shift as much as he could in order to evade the endless hail of explosives.

Another lightning flashes within the dark night. Alfin takes the initiative and fires her machine gun at the witches above her. The planes above getting hit with a barrage of bullets soon lose the ability to fly and crash into the ground, as they met their end with a bang.

"How long do we have to keep this up!?" Alfin asked Arnold. Although both of them already know the answer.

Arnold found another wreckage that can still be used as a ramp, he throttles the motorcycle as the whirlwind from his exhaust turned into a boost as it pushes both of them forward. With his motorcycle keep charging, moving like an elusive mirage towards the 'ramp'. Both of them lift off on the bike into the sky. As fate decided to pity them this one time, the sky flashes with lightning once more, revealed everything for all of them to see.

Acting separately, yet harmonious together to such an unreal degree. Like dancers within a ball court, two of them covered each others' flank and thus managed to easily take down many of the witches around them. Soon, both landed squarely on the wheels while the burning 'witches' that are taken down behind them are falling helplessly to their demise.

"We just have to keep this up, it doesn't matter how long, we just need to fight together," Arnold said while focuses on steering his motorcycle away from being bombed.

Both of them drive for a while before they realized there is only ruin surroundings them, did they run back into the area that was destroyed by Excalibur? They don't even know but the only they knew for sure is to keep their guard up.

"Arnold, there is something near us." Alfin nudges Arnold slightly.

"Huh?" Arnold looks around and saw a fighter plane flying in near ground level. He almost went into a panic by such a sight like that.

"Hey! You two are doing extremely fine right now! To think that there is someone here could fight back against the 'witches' like me. Let me tell you though, you are about to be in for an extremely rough ride here and not only the witches but the road here will hellbent on killing you. Our goals are aligned for now but how our next meeting will be is going to be left up to fate." The pilot in the fighter told Arnold before he flew up to the sky.

Arnold doesn't quite get what he means but when Arnold looks ahead, he instantly understands what the pilot is trying to say.

"Of course, asphalt does have an expiration date. Especially under the weather like this. How could I even forget." Arnold said as if he gets what is going to happen.

The road ahead of them has broken down in such a way that the only explanation to this would be a massive earthquake. Of course, both of them have already gone too far in to turn back and so the only way for them is to go ahead. This will be an ultimate test for Arnold to see if his skill can handle the mettle.

_**Words of God:**__** For this part, play Initial D - The Top**_

Riding into the death zone ahead of him, the witches above him are still trying to hunt him down. The path ahead of him will be unforgiving that it will take a miracle to make it out unscathed.

There is no road left but he has to improvise his own path if wanted to make through. He quickly drifts his way through the most stable ground he could detect, the most that his motorcycle could shine on. Even if it is going to be extremely rough, he has to do this if he wants to make it to the new day.

Even the land itself has broken apart to many parts into parts and chunks and thus he has to watch it to not crash into any of them, especially right now. Chasing the trace of asphalt to make sure that he isn't driving in a circle.

His memory's vision started to overlap with his vision, hearing all those belittles, disdains. His expression furrows as if he wanted to determine that he is better than them, better than what others consider badly of him even if they are no longer present in this world. He started to throttle even if the road is getting far rougher and keeping that speed even in the direst moment

One more turn, as his speed screams to the depth of the night. Even when there are obstacles and rubbles in front of him, he somehow pulled his bike forward and leaped through all of them.

"Arnold! There's a chasm in front of you!" Alfin warned Arnold of where is heading.

"Arnold only looked at it and not having another thought. He keeps going faster as if he decided to gaze at death in the eye without having a second thought.

With a speed that makes dust flew off everywhere, he came charge at the chasm at a breakneck speed. When his bike reaches toward the edge, it came falling with terminal velocity before a second passed.

"Arnold!" Alfin screams in genuine fears which takes a lot to make her feel that.

Both of them gazes into the abyss, don't even know how deep it is. Arnold only has a stern look as if he knew well what he is going to do.

Alfin shuts her eye as she was completely overwhelmed by fear. However, she felt something, both of them doesn't even free falling anymore. She reopens her eyes and sees that he is driving on a strand of steel cable that was held on from both sides. Even with such speed and how the cable is swaying, he still assures on his balance.

Before she realized, he wheelies his motorcycle and landed on the cliffside with both wheels on. Right in the next instance, he throttles his motorcycle as it climbs against the cliffside. The sheer speed that he moves ended up launching him straight into the sky. In the next moment, he quickly draws out his sawn-off and firing it repeatedly without reloading at his surroundings with an unreal speed like a master martial artist using his nunchuck.

The sky roars up with explosions as Arnold lands his bike on the ground squarely again. Flying like an eagle, strike like a hawk. He has changed so much in such a sudden amount of time that even Alfin got surprised by it. He used to be so reserved and passive but now he is aggressively taking down the witches even without Alfin's help. He felt like a completely different person.

"Arnold..." Alfin whispers as if she fears that he might be going to change too much in a short amount of time.

"Don't worry, Alfin. It is just that I am not going to let myself chained down by my own past." Arnold said reassuringly to Alfin.

She doesn't understand what Arnold means but she felt a bit more relieved knowing that Arnold won't turn into a completely different person by the end of this. Both of them keep riding into the unknown land that they didn't trek on or familiar with but that won't stop both of them from fighting for their tomorrow.

"One more turn and I'll settle the score," Arnold whispers silently for himself.

He looked at the sky and saw a battle unfolded over there, that fighter he met from before is probably doing his role right now. He felt that he managed to relive a weight of burden from his should knowing that both he and Alfin are not alone here.

Bombshells mixed entirely with rain, he has earned the full wrath of the witches and they definitely won't stop their pursuits anytime soon. Arnold looks at the surrounding so that he could find away so that he could launch his bike into the sky for another retaliation. Alfin could shoot them down during a thunder flash but that is relying on chance and he knew damn well that luck isn't something to be played with.

He started to notice something ahead of him. Mist, perhaps there might be a way for him to take it into his advantage.

"Alfin, when we are going to enter the mist, fire your flare at once," Arnold said to the passenger with him.

She simply nodded, both of them are at a complete mutual understanding that they can read each other's idea even if they didn't say much. Alfin simply takes out a flare gun then aims it at the sky and wait for Arnold's command

"Now!" Arnold said as both of them enter the mist.

The moment the flare was fired, both of them have already entered deep inside the mist. The illumination flare flew towards the sky then illuminated the darkness like dawn at the end of the night. It flew high towards the sky thus it covered a lot of ground.

It seems that the witches attempted to destroy the flare since it poses the threat of exposing them as they quickly rush towards it only to be shot down by a familiar face.

"Forget about me did ya? I, Hexenjäger shall not allow anyone to harm the couple that you chase." The pilot can only say for himself and not expecting Arnold and Alfin below there to hear. But he felt that he should do it anyway.

Arnold and Alfin who are down there didn't hear what the Hexenjäger said but they focus their thoughts on trying to survive till daybreak. That is their true objective. Anything else is secondary.

Arnold turns off the headlight of his motorcycle. Even within the mist, the flare did a good job of illuminating that he could still see properly in this low visibility ground like this.

_Boom!_

He heard another explosion, he looks back and saw that Alfin's machine gun is still smoking. He noticed that the flare itself make the witches cast their shadows which also revealed their locations. He didn't even notice how the situation has changed into their favor. The mist has equalized the entire board and the flare has given them the chance to counterattack without relying on the thunder flash.

"How ironic. Before, we are running for our lives. But now, we run to hunt them down." Arnold said poetically.

The pattern of bombings that the witches are doing started to become much more of an incomprehensible mess that they are grasping at straws to see where exactly both Arnold and Alfin are. Not to mention the 'Hexenjager' are going at them from their back.

So their fight still goes on. At least they won't be facing too much danger in due time.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Last Stretch Towards Dawn**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Back at Emiya's position**

"Just another hour! All of you are getting closes!" Da Vinci said the time in the singularity through the comm to Gudao.

"Good to know, Da Vinci. We don't know how others are faring right now but I hope they will be alright." Gudao said through the comm as he looks toward the sky that is slowing lighting up.

Meanwhile, Kiritsugu and Iri who are running from each rooftop of the buildings and leaped on towards the next. Kiritsugu simply firing his Stinger anti-air launcher towards the planes while running with a speed that only leaves dust behind. Iri held onto him from behind, protecting him from whatever may befall on them.

It is about 4 o'clock in singularity time. About really closes to daybreak considering the current month. The witches are now fighting on the losing ground as their only advantage is about to be lost. If the fight takes too long, they will be forced to withdraw from the battlefield unless they decided to go all out in desperation. The sky has lightened up a little which allows the Servants to detect them by their outline alone.

"Not so fast!" The Finnish rocket jumped with his M1 Bazooka and the explosions push him towards the sky when it supposed to blow his leg off. He quickly directed himself towards the pitch black by plane and materialized a machete in his hand and pull an overhead slash at the wing of the plane. The plane had lost its wing and can only plummet towards the ground. The Finnish meanwhile landed on top of another building.

"Dude, why don't you just use the rocket launcher to take them down instead of pulling such a stunt like that?!" Desmond who was nearby where the Finnish landed said to him.

"First, the only most effective way to take them down is to get as close as possible to them or having a homing attack. Do you see that I have anything like that?" The Finnish said while jumping from the top of buildings to buildings.

Desmond's words fall to the deaf ears. He simply couldn't understand the concept of the rules of cool over practicality. But once again, knowing that there is nothing normal about Servants in the first place, he decided to just go with the flow.

"Onee-chan! Prepare to give me a lift!" Kuro said to her brother as she dashes toward him.

Shirou heard her and quickly get into his stance and position. When she getting closer, she leaped into his hand which he crossed in front of him. When her feet landed on his hand. He pushes all of his might into it and pushes her into the sky with a height higher than the witches can reach.

When she stopped flying any higher, she quickly said.

"Trace on!" As she quickly traces as many swords as she could possibly can. The sky above soon quickly clouded by massive arrays of swords that were prepared to rain down on those who she deemed to be exterminated. All of those blades floating in the sky were of all kinds. Legendary, mystic, unique or even mundane. All of them are tasked with one single objective, to be the wind of a destructive hurricane she about to send down.

"Begone!" She said as loud as she humanely could before letting it all raining down.

The moment her words cease to be heard, the rain of swords soon falling down with the speed of terminal velocity. The blades pierced through the witches mercilessly as if it won't allow anything to stop it on its path.

The Chaldean Servants below knew what Kuro is doing from the first sight of what she is doing above. Shirou quickly responds by tracing the same shield that has helped him endured the entire journey to this point.

_**Rho Aias!**_

The Seven Ring of Fiery Heaven quickly materialized and everyone quickly got under it as fast as they can. The blades soon came crash into the buildings beneath them and brought all of them down effortlessly. The shields however easily repelled them almost effortlessly. The only thing around them was just ruins and the building they standing on is the only one that is still standing.

Shirou soon dematerialized the shield and catches Kuro who is falling down in bridal carry style. He put his sister down and felt finally at peace that this entire onslaught has come into an end.

"So how did I do? Onee-chan?" Kuro asked her brother proudly.

"Other than extremely collateral, I would say you did pretty well to bring this situation to a swift end," Shirou said to his sister with a smile.

Kuro then smiles mischievously, even if she is physically more capable than her brother. Her brother is far more adaptive and can easily turn the table around to his favor.

"So, what about the others? Pierce, Richard..." Desmond said when he realized that they were missing something.

"SHI-" Before Gudao let out the word out of his mouth, he heard a voice saying from below them at the ground level.

"Hey! We are underneath all of you there. Other than almost having a scare of a lifetime. We are fine." Pierce said from the ground level, right directly underneath them all.

"We spent most of the time hiding and when we saw how the sky was filled with endless blades, that is when we quickly rush here. Please, consider others before doing something like this." Richard said.

"Sorry to scare you two like that," Gudao said to others.

"Wait. Where are the other two? Arnold and Alfin..." Iri said as she noticed something amiss.

Shirou suddenly became dumbfounded. He can only mutter one word before he remembered what he was supposed to do before at the night before.

"Crap... I was too hung up on the witches to remember about them." Shirou mutters.

"If you are asking about those two. I see two of them running off in a motorcycle while fending off against the witches. It is really hard to not notice that. Plus, that probably also explains why there are also only a few witches were here and the probabilities that the majority of remaining witches are pursuing them and not us." The Finnish said.

"And you only saying this now?!" Kiritsugu yelled at the Finnish for not letting them know about this earlier.

"Dear god! That means they are in great danger right now!" Iri said.

"Then we better hurry up now. Where did the two of them heading!?" Kiri quickly asks the Finnish.

"The same direction we would take to head to Berlin. It is just that the two of them are further ahead of us right now." The Finnish said as he moves out towards the same direction he said.

And so the group quickly get on their feet and rushes out as quickly as they could.

Dawn is coming soon and whether the duo will make it or not will be placed entirely on them.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Reaching For The Top**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Back to Arnold and Alfin' position**

_**Words of God:**_** For this part, play Initial D - The Top**

After a few hours of bitter fighting. Moving constantly from patches of mist and counterattack when it is the most decisive. Both of them managed to whittle down the enemies to a mere handful. Their spirits are now on the edge of breaking down and any more fight would most likely bury them six feet deep. Even then, they knew they can't give up now that they have made it this far and thus they muster up anything possible to keep their mind on focus.

"Guess that I shouldn't rely too much on the mist to do the fighting, did I? But whatever it is, I just glad that we actually encounter it or else we would have been in a much more dangerous situation." Arnold said as the mist started to dissipate to the point it barely matters anymore.

The motorcycle keeps running and soon it reaches the cliff edge and leaped from there. They fly in the air for a few seconds before landing on the even ground. This time, there are two cliffsides acting as walls and slightly tilted. Other is a straight road ahead of him. The day is getting closer and there is almost nothing left standing on his way.

Arnold, however, felt this is too silence, he doesn't believe that someone who has chased him to this point can actually give up right here and right now. If anything, it makes him more cautious.

Arnold's intuition completely gets the right answer as he quickly swerves the motorbike out of harm's way as an explosion occurred in front of him.

"Knew it..." Arnold thought as he started to see the two biplanes' outlines in front of his vision.

Arnold drew his sawn-off and quickly fires it at the witches in front of him. However, almost as if they what he was going to do. They quickly flew higher while still dropping a ceaseless amount of bombs on the track in front of him. Arnold quickly counteracts by swerving and turning at every moment notice. He knew that if things keep up like this, they would get hit by one eventually.

"Arnold! What am I supposed to do?!" Alfin who is holding to him from behind.

"How high is your Strength parameter?" Arnold said resolutely, almost like he already figured out what to do.

She just looks at him and suddenly she understood what he is trying to do. She decided to give a single nod for she doesn't need to ask any more questions.

Riding through the blazing path ahead of him with shrapnel flying everywhere. His wounds getting more aggravated but there is only a single decision in his mind. He will put an end to this fight, right here and now.

He throttles the bike to the maximum controllable speed, his suppressed emotions to this point started to breakthrough and overflow. Arnold decided that if he is going to end it now, he might as well make it a one that will forever strike in the heart of those who still present.

"Are you ready now to die?" Arnold screamed to the top of his lung at the witches, it was so loud that even bombshells fall short against it.

He keeps throttle, raising dust everywhere he goes. The witches quickly realized the threat beckoning them and quickly steer their plane up to make sure their target has no way of fighting back

"I came up from the bottom and into the top. For the first time, I feel alive! I can fly like an eagle and strike like a hawk. Do you think you can survive... the top?" Arnold's emotion and judgment completely meld with each other harmoniously like yin and yang. The chorus he sang was completely made within his mind in the heat of moments just to express his feeling right now.

Dystopia to the witches' ear, utopian for Arnold and Alfin's. The witches ahead of them are getting more desperate by the act of increasing their payload as much as they possibly could. The path ahead is now completely filled with bombshells and going that way is asking for death but of course, Arnold has his own way.

"What were you thinking, telling me to follow your rules? This entire life of mine isn't gonna go anywhere, it can't! You want to see me following this whole charrade. This whole thing? Do you think you want to see that I have fallen by you? No, I AM the rules!" Arnold said as he steers the bike into the cliffside.

Alfin closed her eyes briefly but she didn't see her own fiery end at all. She quickly opened her eyes again and she saw that he is driving against the cliffside itself and skip through the entire barrage dropping in front of them. Alfin looks at Arnold and saw a glint of cold steel in his eyes. It was emptiness, concentrated of pure determination. Looking beyond his own doubts and his shortcomings, his own determination will put an end to this fight!

"Before I knew where this was going, I would've been fallen by you. Right now, I distance myself from what you are trying to do! I made this to be way bigger than how you're pathetic life ever gonna be. I have made it this far and I will take this to the top!" Arnold said as his bike began to move faster than the witches themselves. With nothing stop him in his way, it wasn't even within a few seconds that he has overtaken the witches.

The witches noticed them and quickly tried to fly higher but unfortunately for them that, it is too late for them either way. Arnold quickly pulled his bike from the cliffside leaped towards the witches. A completely unexpected and bold move on his side.

Arnold whips out his pickaxe and swung it against the biplane while he and the bike are spinning uncontrollably. Alfin materialized her own pickaxe and do the same thing as Arnold on another adjacent biplane. Both of the witches having completely bind into the bike itself begin to spin uncontrollably with the bike with a speed that no human eye can perceive. When they have reached terminal spinning velocity, Arnold and Alfin thrown each of the planes into each cliffside where they begin to roll on it with a speed no less than Arnold's motorbike. Soon, the rebounding force pushed the tattered plane from each of the cliffsides into each other where they will meet their final fiery end. One that befits them as to how they lived their lives.

Arnold quickly grasps the control of his bike back and stop it from spinning, riding through the explosion that happened next and land on the ground safely. And just at that moment, the new day has finally arrived for them as the gentle light of daybreak shining on. Both of them keep riding towards it, like an angel reaching the heavens with its wings soaring toward it,

* * *

_**Servants Profile**_

**_The Messenger_**

**_Class:_****_ Archer_**

_True__ Name: "Arnold?"_

_Parameter:_

_Str: C+__| Agi: B++ (A++)__| End: B__| Mana: D__| Luck: E__| NP: Unk  
-Wise up!-_

_Passive Skills:  
-Independent Action C++: _It is possible for a Servant to stay in the world for one day without a Master's connection. In Arnold's case, as long as he has a duty to carry out, he won't disappear until after his duty is fulfilled and after two days

_-Magic Resistance E: Due to being a Modern Servant, he basically can't resist magical based attacks without fatally crippled if what hit him isn't a Master's attack._

_-Riding B: Allow the user to operate most_ _vehicles and animals can be handled with above average skill, even vehicles that did not exist in the time period one was alive in, for they are no exception. However, he cannot ride the likes of Phantasmal Species such as Monstrous Beasts._

_Personal Skills:_

_-Valor C+: A valiant surviving soldier of what would be called one of the deadliest conflicts in human history should speak some volume of his bravery. Considering that he is a Servant which mean he is a famous soldier in modern times. Raises Strength slightly and grants minor resistance to mental interference if up against adversary._

_-Ironsight Reflex A: Due to the nature of his job back when he was human, it is obvious that such an extremely dangerous job with a very high fatality rate beyond eve foot soldiers would demand excessive skills in both reflexes, marksmanship and decision making. This skill also allows its user to evade extremely fast projectiles or blows repeatedly without putting great strains on his mind. It also allows the user to attain greater accuracy during the using of firearms even in precarious situations. Also, double as Intuition. (Wise up!)_

**_Noble Phantasm_**

**|_Rider of Torment__| Wise up!  
The Messenger's Deliverance_**

**_Rank B |__ Classification: Vehicle, Anti-Unit_**

**_One of the invention borns during the era where horses are considered outdated due to the advancement of ballistic technology. This motorcycle has seen the same suffering that its rider also has. Upon being summoned and used by its beholder. It will raise its rider's Agility parameter by another full rank with modifier remains unchanged by this NP._**

**_The Saint of Distant Wartime._**

**_Class:_****_ Ruler_**

_True Name: Desmond Doss_

_Parameter:_

_Str: - __| Agi: B+ __| End: A+ __| Mana: E __| Luck: B__| NP: B+_

_+Passive Skills:_

_-Magic Resistance B: Having a Ruler class container, Desmond has a high magic resistance innately. Due to being a Modern Servant, his magic resistance was limited to B_

_-True Name Discernment C: If summoned as a Ruler, during a direct encounter, a Servant's true name and entire status information will be automatically revealed. In regards to Servants with concealment abilities, a Luck Check is required to bypass those abilities._

_-God's Resolution A: A_ _Class Skill of the Ruler __class and is the privilege of the Ruler presiding over the Holy Grail War; the right to use Command Spells against Servants, only given to Rulers. Each Ruler is normally granted two Command Spells for each Servant that participates in the Holy Grail War. In the situation Desmond was in right now, this skill is useless._

_+Personal Skills:_

_-Backline Extractor A: A skill that allows Desmond to extract someone from danger successfully even if enemy Servants are pursuing him and his patients._

_-Protection of Faith B: A skill possessed only by those who have made sacrifices for a religious view. Despite being a form of divine protection, it is not a blessing from a higher existence. It is the absoluteness of one's body and mind that was born from their beliefs._

_-Undying Will A+: A skill that is similar to Battle Continuation, except that this skill is unique to him for it boosts his Endurance to EX temporarily for when he is saving someone or under attack from a hostile enemy or received grievous injuries._

**_Noble Phantasm_**

**_|Hacksaw Ridge|  
Where All Reach Breaking Point._**

**_Rank B+| Classification: Anti-Pursuit_**

**_A Noble Phantasm that allows Desmond to alter the land through the power of reminiscence to where his name is made. The battle of Okinawa where the most bloody battle in the Pacific Theater taken place. The barren land of Okinawa boosts all of Desmond's parameters except Strength and hindering the enemy should they aim for heavily injured allies or him by an artillery strike that has the power of B+ NP that was aimed at them. This Noble Phantasm actually not kept by Desmond's mana but by the power of God at his side as ridiculous as it sounds. It is made for one purpose and that is to extract everyone out of danger alive should they all failed somehow._**

**_|Healing Hand|  
Curing What Is Thought Impossible_**

**_Rank C| Classification: Anti-Fatality._**

**_A Noble Phantasm that allows Desmond to treat and surgery on his patients with a speed that is even beyond the eyes of Servants. It is thought that those of the descendants of Asclepius are capable of doing this and this power also brings the ability to cure even incurable disease, curse, and even near-fatal wounds._**

**_|Divine Intervention| Wise up!  
God's Salvation_**

**_Rank A++| Classification: Anti-'NP Activation'_**

**_A Noble Phantasm born from Desmond's feat at one of the bloodiest battles in WW2, Okinawa. There were many moments that could have killed Doss but he has managed to survive all of them and thus his story is nothing less of divine intervention. This Noble Phantasm prevents the activation of other Servants' offensive Noble Phantasm that is targeted on him or his allies. Any NP with rank below A will fail to activate instantly, A+ will make a Luck check on the other opposing Servants, A++ will make both Desmond and his opponents has to make Luck check. Any higher and this Noble Phantasm will fail to counteract against._**

**_The Mysterious Girl_**

_**Class:?**_

_True Name**: **__"Alfin?"_

_Parameter:_

_Str: __B__| Agi: B __| End: __B __| Mana: __A+__| Luck: __D__| NP: Unk  
__Wise up!_

_Passive Skills:_

_"Unknown"_

_Personal Skills:_

_-Animal Communication D: Born from her own love with animals and close affinity with them at a young age and even until now. She could understand what the animals are trying to say to her even if no one else could understand_

_-Soul-burst Forge A+: The ability to turn pre-existing scrap metals or mana into the user's predetermined shape and structures and inner working mechanism. This includes firearms, melee, tools and everything of all sorts consists of metal components. Other components can be created with the user's mana with increased cost__. (Wise up!)_

**_Noble Phantasm_**

**_"Unknown"_**

* * *

**Thanks for reading this far, my reader. School definitely hasn't been nice to me at all and it can only go worse from here on out. I hope that I can still pump more of this out before I have to do my exam. Plus, the first chapters are definitely what you call mediocre or just bad. I would definitely fix those earlier chapters once I have completed the storyline.**


	10. Another Frontier

**Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Chapter 10: Another Frontier**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Back at the ravine**

"Hey! We are over here!" Arnold who is on the other side of ravine trying to get their attention. It didn't take much to quickly get the reply.

"How on earth did you two crossed over this ravine?!" The Finnish said as he sees how ungodly wide this ravine is. Not even Servants could jump over this.

"Well, we found some random cable and-" Arnold replied only to be quickly cut off.

"Cable? I used my Hawkeye and sees absolutely nothing that can be considered a cable." Shirou said to them from the other side.

Arnold became silence, all of the night before was such a wild dream that it was hard to discern what is real or not. Not that it matters anymore, they won't deal anymore with it next time.

"Sigh, guess there isn't enough mystery in this world after all..." Richard said.

"So how do we gonna cross this?" Gudao asked his Servants.

"Don't worry, Master. We'll resolve this easily..." Shirou reassured his Master.

"Kuro! You know what to do..." Shirou said to his sister as he looks at her.

Kuro simply nodded, both of them walk closer to the ravine and begin to put each of their hands up with their palms into the sky.

_"Trace on!" _Both of them said in unison.

Whirling mana flows from their feet to the above of their hands, a physique of a sword begins to form above them. One thing though is the sword isn't just a normal one but also having a much more gigantic size. The sword begins to take form and soon manifests into the physical world.

_"Ig Alima!" _Both of them shouted together as the said sword fell in front of them. Arnold and Alfin on the other side realized that it is going to land on them and thus quickly jump out of its way. The sword fell on the edge of the other side and bridged through the ravine itself.

"To think that I can't get anymore surprised about your capabilities," Desmond said to Shirou.

"To be fair, what we traced is a Divine Construct. If it weren't for the fact that it is a sword, we couldn't trace it in the first place. Plus, it is just an empty copy. A hollow blade if you considered." Shirou simply just downplay what he did. He wasn't wrong but to do something like this would require an extreme amount of talents in the first place. Prodigy-like if given.

"Well, shall we go ahead? We don't gain anything by standing here." Pierce said to everyone else.

"Yeah, let's go, shall we?" Gudao replied to Pierce.

All of them together walk on the Ig Alima that Shirou and Kuro traced. A hollow Divine Construct created just to cross this ravine. If this was a Holy Grail War, every other Servant would most likely already soiled their pants.

"So... What should we do next?" Richard asked everyone else just to clear the mood up. Crossing this ravine on foot would take a while just to get to the other side.

"On our side? We are going to need more manpower. I thought that we could at least withhold that trump card of ours until the finale for maximum surprise effect but looking at the situation right now. I would say that we should use it when given the chance now. I don't want our team to die in the next encounter something with far greater strength and then get killed due to insufficient manpower." Gudao replied.

Richard's soul froze. The idea that Chaldea's Servants can get more powerful is just out of reality to him. Both the Archers are already ungodly strong with their abilities. The idea that someone is far stronger than those two is just ludicrous and unthinkable to him. If that someone is considered a trump card that can be used here with a strict restriction by them then they have to be far stronger than the enemy they are up against, he couldn't think of anyone who would ever fit that bill.

"Da Vinci, where is the closest leyline?" Gudao asked through the comms.

"Good news, there is one that is just ahead of you a few hundreds meter away. If you can get there, we would be able to rayshift another Servant to you." Da Vinci replied.

"Good, see you soon." Gudao thanks Da Vinci before he turns off the comms

Richard heard the conversation and started to feel nervous about this Servant. He is going to witness the trump card of Chaldea's Servant and it makes him anticipating. His old body of his can only handle so much in excitement when he is going to see a force of nature himself.

"By the way, Mr. Finnish. Would you kindly tell us what your name is? I mean, if you wanted to keep it private then I understand. But it is starting to get really mouthful to say 'the Finnish' every time we talk. So, can you at least give us a nickname of sorts?" Pierce asked the Finnish himself.

Pierce just walking along with the Finnish, hoping that he didn't irritate the man. He just felt that if he pressed the wrong button, he would have died instantly.

"Larry. Just call me Larry." The Finnish said his name, or nickname, or whatever.

Pierce got what he wanted but he felt that he should have left it up to his Servant to ask. At least that would have spared him from unnecessary worry.

Gudao heard the conversation behind him and wonder if there is more to the name that the Finnish give or it is just him overthinking. He is not the type to do things behind one's back but he felt that he should at least tell Da Vinci if he has the chance to do so.

All of them continue to walk on top of the gigantic sword with nothing to stand on their way. It is all one simple trek before they would reach for the next wall.

At least for now...

**Meanwhile at Reznov's location**

"So the Servant you mentioned didn't manage to take down any of them but also lost too many of specter fighters to mount another assault?" Dimitrii asked his friend.

"Yeah, unfortunately. They have proven their mettle and surely can't be underestimated at all. If only we have much more information about them. At least our Night Witch is still alive but she won't see any more action soon." Reznov said as he felt a little disappointed but also understanding.

"So, sis? What do you make more of them?" Dimitrii said Luydmia to see if she managed to learn more of their enemy.

Unfortunately, though, the battle before has only made her more confused about her enemies' identity.

"There... There are way too many contradictions and differences. No bowman has any shield that could withstand such amount of barrage. No swordsmith has any right to create such a vast amount and varieties of swords. And most of them all, that runner also has a motorcycle. As much as I know about history, trenches and motorcycles don't ever go well with each other at all." Lyudmila said as she pointed out the glaring holes within her information connections.

"And the worst part, the Witch Hunter. I used to hear about a regiment consist of stealth bombers and during one of their missions. Four of them got shot down in one night and that person was soon nicknamed Hexenjager or Witch Hunter. I heard that he didn't make through the war and thus I kinda thought if he was considered to be Spirit, being a Phantom was the most likely. However, what happened last night just proved I was wrong." Pavlov said.

"Warfare was all about uncertainty. Even the worst unlikely possibilities would happen sooner or later. All we can do are prepare for it if it is to come." Reznov said.

"So what do we do next?" Dimitrii askes.

"They have proven themselves so there is no more point in continue fighting them for now. Plus, our side is not exactly in better condition. Our target is that heretic, not those who he is accompanying with." Reznov said resolutely.

And so they concede from the show for now. When will be their next appearance? Only God knows...

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Prismatic Summonings**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Back to Gudao's location**

"We're finally here. The closest leylines before like hundreds of kilometer to the second closest one." Gudao said as he checked the land.

"So, are you intending to do what I am thinking of?" Shirou asking his Master.

"Yeah... We made it this far, there is no point in pulling punches back. I don't want this entire journey to fail because I underestimated the threat." Gudao said to his Servant.

Gudao looks around for the strongest point in leylines. The kind that he could extract great output of mana. He soon managed to detect the closest one in his sight and quickly approaches it. He crouches and grabbed a piece of mystic chalk within his gear satchels and draw it against the ground

"Is he going to?!" Pierce said as he would never forget the sight of his first summoning.

"Yeah, it seems so. I could feel a great amount of mana pouring over this location." Larry said as he could feel the surrounding with his senses.

Arnold and Alfin both look at the newly drawn summoning circle in anticipation. They don't know whoever it is going to be their next ally but they knew that whoever that person is will be a strong one.

"Da Vinci... Send her over to the location that I marked. Plus, we are going to use the full house anyway." Gudao said through his comms to the Shadow Border.

"Ok then. I'll announce it to her." Da Vinci replied back

**Back to the Shadow Border**

The Shadow Border is in truth a fleet of enormous APCs that is moving within the Imaginary Number Space. According to Shirou Emiya with his limited Second Magic knowledge, the situation of Chaldea could have turned enormously worse. Like the majority of the Servants are discharged, almost all of Chaldea's staff are killed, there is only one Shadow Border APC. The Mage's Association could have turned Chaldea off far earlier and that moment sealed the entire fate of humanity. Many horrible things could have happened but in this current timeline, but they have lucked out on many things including all of what mentioned before.

All of these APCs are connected with each other by teleportation circles. Something that would have been on the realm of True Magic if it weren't for Chaldea's Casters putting all of their efforts with each other to make all of it as feasible as possible. Within them is accommodating space for all of the Servants, supplies, and services. The entirety of Chaldea's trump card right now is their enormous number and they went through all of the hassles of not being exposed that trump card in Lostbelt 3 when the leading APC got captured.

And within one of them is where a certain family lives. Most of them are on the current mission and thus there are only two people in there right now. Sitonai and Illya. The eldest sister Sitonai is combing her younger sister's hair while having a far off look in her eyes. She has always been feeling solemn since her first summoned to Shadow Border. That first day was an unforgettable memory where so many emotions that she didn't know existed within her emerged when she saw her own family living their lives there. She soon came to terms and quickly become one of the family members.

"Hey, Sitonee-chan. Do you think that our family will get to live a normal family life after all of this incident ended?" Illya askes her elder sister.

Sitonai doesn't know how to answer that question. All of Emiya Family's member has gone through all kinds of hardship and suffering that is too much for multiple lifetimes, and that includes her. Whether they would make it through or not, the damage done on the entirety of humanity's history will be irreversible. At that point, her insight can't perceive any further at all.

"That... I don't know" Sitonai said it a bit sadly.

Both of them have the same physique, the height of just a small teenage child, hair as white as snow and eyes colored with crimson blood. The difference is that Sitonai has the maturity of an adult while Illya tried to sound mature but can't help her childish outbursts sometime.

"Sitonee-chan, while I was at Observation Room before, seeing the battles unfolded in front of me. Seeing my own family members getting hurt and on the constant verge of death. It hurts me, in a way that makes me fear so much. To see them like that while I am just sitting here, unable to do anything to help them in the slightest. I just wanted to get there and tried to bring them out of the jaw of danger but simultaneously know that if I just join in haphazardously, I would just be a wrench in the gear. No, more as a whole toolbox threw into the machinery." Illya said sadly.

Sitonai is just sitting on the top of the bed while combing her younger sister's hair. Listening to her sister makes her felt the same. Her immense power wasting away here because the enemy has complete control over who gets summoned in that singularity. All of the family members have all went through too much pain and torment and the simple wish of being a normal family just sounds even more farfetched the more time passed.

_**Attention! Attention! The following Servant shall come to the Rayshift Chamber. Illyasviel von Einzbern. Please come to the Rayshift Chamber, now.**_

The announcement went through the entirety of Shadow Border and letting all of the Servants in there to hear. And of course, the two sisters obviously heard that.

"Are my ears playing a trick on me? Papa and Mama need my help?" Illya said as she heard her name in the announcement.

"No... It is clearly you. If that is the case then the family truly needs you out there." Sitonai said to her sister.

Whether to celebrate herself or worry in fear that the situation has gone worse than they initially thought. It doesn't matter the slightest to Illya anymore. Her family needs her and she will get there for them. Changing into her combat cloth, the outfit of a magical girl. She opened the door while looking back at her sister as if she doesn't want to leave her alone here.

"Don't worry about me. Your family needs you right now, isn't it?" Sitonai reassures her sister.

"Yeah! I hope you will be fine here!" Illya said cheerfully just to try to lift her mood up before she went out towards the transporting circles that lead to the leading APC. Soon, her shadow is also gone from Sitonai's sight.

Sitonai just sitting in an empty room, but not feeling lonely at all. She lying on the bed and look at the ceiling of the room. Whether it was happiness or satisfaction, she has already felt content.

"Perhaps, things will turn out alright," Sitonai said to herself.

Meanwhile at the Rayshift Chamber.

"Okay, Illya. You just need to step on that magic circle so that we can send you over to the coordinate that our Master has marked for himself on the Singularity. Also, I hope that you can have a good time with your parents!" Da Vinci said to the little white-haired girl.

"Understood! Ms. Da Vinci!" Illya said as she quickly enters the magic circle. A blinding light shines from the magic circle as she was quickly sent to the Singularity.

**Back to Gudao's location**

The summoning circle started to flash with a blinding light. Everyone there is looking with anticipation, the Emiya Family and Gudao obviously know who is being summoned but to everyone else, it is like watching the second coming of Jesus.

The light dies down and coming out of it is the little girl, with pink-tinted white hair, crimson eye. Wearing the pink magical girl outfit. She quickly leaped towards her parents the moment her summoning is complete.

"Papa! Mama!" She said it energetically as she quickly held on to her mother.

"Oh! My sweet bundle of joys!" She quickly also held tightly to her daughter. It was such a motherly loving sight that it would have touched the heart of those who were presents.

"Welcome to the team, my little whiskey girl," Kiritsugu said as he rubbed her hair with a small smile on his face. There aren't many things that could ever draw a smile from him at all in the first place.

Gudao and Shirou looking at them with happiness while Kuro just simply sighs for she has always seen this all of the time. The rest though looking confused at what the girl is.

"I don't even know if Servants can breed but I am definitely not going to test that out, ever!" Larry said.

"Uhm, is she supposed to be coming from some sort of tales or what?" Desmond asks in confusion.

Meanwhile, Richard just looks at her and tried to make sense of what is going on but he soon just threw his two hands up and walk away as he has finally given up his attempt to even make sense of any of this.

Arnold stood there watching, it is actually a heart-touching scene amidst this sorrowful scenery. Until he felt something dropping on his hand.

He realized that Alfin is getting tearful and her tears are dropping on his hand. He actually patted Alfin's on the shoulder without realizing it himself.

"Alfin? Are you alright?" Arnold asks her, at least to check if she is fine.

"Eh!? Uh, yes! I'm alright!" Alfin said panically as she was startled.

Alfin wiped the tears out of her face while Arnold just looks at her in worry. He just thinks in his mind, wondering what on earth happened to her when she was alive.

"So, shall we keep heading on? We don't have much time to just sit around here!" Pierce said just so he could catch everyone's attention.

"Wah! I'm sorry that I wasted everyone's time! But first, I shall introduce myself. The name is Illyasviel von Einzbern. Caster." The little Caster said happily. She was such a spitting far cry of this ruined land.

Everyone then continued on, onto the next wall where they might encounter more oppositions. Even then, they will be one step closer to their destination.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Enemy's Gate**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Meanwhile in the Heart of Reich, Berlin**

The plane from the night before soon reaching the landing platform, it soon lands on the ground as the tires screeching against the ground. The pilot slowly steers it into a maintenance bay where the maintenance will be done on his plane

The plane soon approaches and the gate opens up for it. The plane enters slowly while the rain splatters like artillery shells on Verdun. It soon came into a stop and the gate was closed shut soon after. The rain that is landing here is straight-up brutal. It is like all the storms that existed within this world and suddenly got compacted to the size of a small one while still keeping the power behinds it. The roaring thunder in the background trying to make itself as clear as hell on earth. A storm like this would have made sure absolutely nothing standing at all. Yet here it is, a functional airport and maintenance bays are built under this critical weather.

The man soon open up his cockpit and exit the plane, it has been a long trip to him and thus he wanted to have some rest right now. Especially after that fateful encounter with his old enemies that he didn't get the chance to settle with. Plus, he has another to do another grueling report before actually getting his rest. He would dare say that the entire mission is far less tiring than the report itself since he doesn't have a way with words.

He walks towards the door that leads him to another room. For a maintenance bay, this place is so silent that it's unnerving. The only discerning sounds are just his footsteps along the hallway.

"Hey there, young man. It seems that you have been really tired out. Here, have some coffee. It will at least giving you some vitality back." A certain old-looking man spoke to him.

"Thanks, I honestly don't know why I am trying to endure for this long." The youngster said back to the old man.

"There's no hard feeling young man. Two of us are two aviators. It is obvious that we should always look out to each other." The old man said.

Both two of them work in the same kind of profession so being relatable to each other is one thing. The old man, however, appears to be far more experienced than youngster next to him but he always paid out the full respect. Two of them have some small chats along the way to pass the times.

Before they knew it, they have already left the airstrip area. The surroundings are a bit livelier, but it still feels oddly sad to him.

"Hey, old man. Do you ever felt your own mind tells you to do something that you not even sure if it would have any meaning in the first place? Last night, something urges me to use the emergency harpoon gun back during my mission." The young man asked the older aviator.

"That is the first time I heard of it. I'm not sure of myself. When it comes to actual combat, it is just my skill and experience that make the decision." The old man said.

As both of them keep walking down the hallway, they encountered someone. Someone that they didn't know. A woman with long snow-white hair styled into a scorpion braid behind her with crimson eyes approaches them.

"Excuse me. Are you Hexenjager?" The woman asked the young pilot.

"Uhm... Yes? Who are you? I don't see you anytime before." The young man reluctantly answer.

"Thanks, can you please tell me where are the maintenance bays of the airstrip?" The woman asked with a kind tone, enough to make any man fall for her.

"Uh... Behind us? I mean all we have done so far here is moving on a straight line." The old man said.

"Thanks, I am the engineer of the maintenance bays, there supposed to be other engineers but they are on work leave right now. Don't worry about me, I am more than capable enough to do maintenance on the fighters." The woman said kindly before she moves toward the maintenance bays behind the two men.

"Strange... I have never seen her before." The young man said.

"Yeah, me too. She looks like a goddamn angel with that body, face, and personality. Not even a lifetime would get you to stumble upon such a divine gift like that." The old man said.

The two of them continue to walk further down the hallway. If it weren't for the perfect noise insulation that was installed in the bases. They would hear the rain far more than anything else. The old man felt that he should at least learn about what happened during the young man's mission.

"Hey, what was your mission before again?" The old man asked.

"Transporting goods from an outpost to the third wall. The goods were a single trunk. I was commanded to not look at the contents inside and it was locked either way so I don't even know what it is. My encounter with Night Witches was simply a coincidence." The young man said.

"Good to know." The old man said.

Both two of them soon reach their resting room which is a really large one with arrays of beds set and each of them has lockers placed nearby. The resting room for the SS Waffen is just so simple and plain that you would run out of things to describe it.

"Well, I am going to take my rest before heading to the recreational room, even the bases don't have much room for entertainment at all but to keep making small talks and stuff." The old man said before he just lies on the bed and then the next second he slept like a log.

The young man sighed, he envies over with trivial stuff but at least it would be the last thing he would deal with in this day is to make the report of his mission. Then he is done with the rest.

"Let just make this quick, shall we?" The young man said as he begins to write on the form that he has a wad of them in the locker.

He looked to the next bed and saw a note on it. The bed has the word 'Fox' designated into. From what he heard, 'Fox' and his elite squad was sent to investigate the massive destruction unfolded during the time of his mission. Even the young man can see said destruction unfold from the distance during his mission.

"Guess nothing is ever easy after all." The young man said as he keeps writing the form.

"I don't know what happened back there. If it weren't for the voice in my mind told me to leave that couple on the motorcycle alone, I would have harmed them. Just what is going on?" He keeps thinking, suspecting that something was off.

It is oddly quiet here, at the heart of Reich itself.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Soul of Steels**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Back to Gudao's position**

"Master, we are getting closer to the third wall. Shall we stop to devise a tactic to breakthrough before proceeding?" Shirou told his master.

The wall ahead of them are in the vision and the same most likely going for the reverse if they act anything rash. The previous one they saw before were decimated and deserted but this thing is still having full force behind it.

It has many high-caliber machine guns mounted on top, one second of careless and those things would turn you into minced meat. No, scratch that, you would be nothing but a splatter of blood on the ground and that is still assuming the ground you were shot at is still in there. Tank stoppers were placed throughout the ground ahead of the wall in order to hinder the movement of anything larger than the size of a human. Artilleries and anti-tank cannons were embedded into the wall making it required a considerable amount of power to destroy the cannons inside. And the cherry on top is that the number of auto-cannons mounted is as much as the machine guns. There is no doubt that you will need an army worth of Servant just to break through without having the specific one with Anti-Fortress NP

"How on earth are we exactly breaking through?" Arnold said as he can't even think of any way to make past it.

Everyone looks warily as their gaze landed upon Alfin. Both Shirou and Kuro can trace Excalibur and use its NP, but to use it to a good enough potential to break a large enough chunk in the wall is a different matter and thus the only person they can tell to be able to break through the wall is Alfin alone. They didn't see her in combat in detail but all of the events happened this far has already pointed to her.

And almost before anyone raise their voices, Alfin has already taken the initiative.

"Well, I understand that all of you have your own doubts. And this place is where I will earn all of your trust." Alfin said with confidence.

"Wait, if so then why didn't you use your NP from much before?" Pierce asked her since he felt that something just doesn't add up.

"To be fair, if I just use my Noble Phantasm nonchalantly, there would be much more risk of a friendly fire than when I'm not," Alfin explains her reason.

Arnold listens to her attentively. After all, he is the one who managed to grasp a glimpse of her Noble Phantasm even if he didn't manage to guess what it is exactly.

"Well, I shall proceed in what I should do. I hope that this will at least earn all of everyone's trust." Alfin said before she sets out towards the wall alone.

She walks toward it without fear, almost as if the wall's destruction was already sealed from the moment she appeared. Her own spirit is tranquil as a pond of calm water before it turns entirely into a maelstrom of destruction within a mere second.

_**Words of God: **__** For this part, play Ao no Kiseki - Steel Roar (Verge of Death)**_

The color of her eyes turns into the color of ember. The ember of wildfire itself. All of her emotions will be sealed during this fight and the only thing that is showing are her own killing intents.

Walks into a deserted land filled with tank stoppers everywhere she sees. The defenders on the wall have obviously seen her and preparing to act accordingly on her actions.

As if they decided to ditch their original plan away, they decided to open fire on her first. The hail of bullets and shells moving towards her with speed faster than sound but her own skills and abilities are far faster.

Another second has passed. Those bullets that would have been demise to almost anything that it came to strike got stopped on its track. What they struck wasn't her but the tank stoppers. But the thing is, those tank stoppers are free-floating in front of her and bunched together into a cluttering ball of steel.

The Azure Soldiers on the wall refused to believe that she can even get any closer to this wall in the first place and thus they intensified their firing as much as possible, using the auto-cannons and artillery right at her location.

"So you started to get serious after all. Guess I don't have to keep up to see that you wanted me dead." Alfin said with a voice that is as cold as ice.

The barrage of concentrated artillery shells flying towards her, no matter how much resistance the cluttered ball of steel had, it isn't going to hold up against the said attack.

And of course, the said ball of steel quickly dissolve into a massive cloud of mana dust and flew into her as if she is absorbing them. She just looks intently towards the hail of bullets and shells that is about to impact against her without single care left in this world.

The moment one thought that her death is assured, the next moment literally told the opposites. All of them just came to stop dead in their tracks, just stood there in the air. All of those incoming ballistics that they keep flinging at her only to prove how fruitless their attempts are.

When all of those ballistics that stood there started to amount to a wall. A surge of mana burst from Alfin's position and quickly igniting all of those ballistics that stood in front of her into a wall of blazing molten steel. All of them begin to turn back to the wall and at this point, one can easily tell what would happen next

"Fire!" Alfin said as she pointed her finger towards as like a commander commanding his division to do volley fire.

All of those ballistics form before now moving back with a speed like before. As they started to came crash into the wall with fierce power behind it, clouds of dust fly from the sheer impact alone can tell just how much power behind it.

The dust died down and soon revealed the damage left behind by said attack. Not enough to severe the mana connection of the wall but it has also left the artilleries and cannons completely opened. The survived Azure Soldiers quickly trying to find any weapon that is still working condition from the said attack which is honestly not a lot to remain for but those auto-cannons and artilleries that managed to be still functional enough.

Alfin quickly throws something towards the cannons, a barrage of chains flying towards and soon chained into them. The moment she can tell that the chains have caught the targets she wanted, she yanked them back and pulled those cannons that were caught in her grasp along with them.

Right when those cannons got closer to her vicinity, they were instantly broke down into mana and quickly absorbed into hers. Her body revitalized with newfound vigor. A burning sensation coursing through her as if she got a grasp at her newfound power.

Burning gates started manifest around her and coming out of it is the large barrels of cannons and high-caliber machine guns of some sort. From the appearance alone, one can tell that it was the same kind that she took from the wall and consumed them.

All of those guns are still burning with white-hot steel as if to intimidate her enemies further. Even if they aren't out of the gate yet, Alfin can use them as if they were fresh out from factories. She triggers the machine guns and a relentless stream of bullets came gushing out all of those were on top of the wall.

And soon, she begins to open fire the cannons, a volley of shells came forward and wreck the already damaged wall. Even more of those cannons got exposed out of the wall from her unmatched firepower and so she will take them all with her to bolster her already unreal firepower. The wall also begins to unleash its full might on just her alone.

Bullets clash, shells explode. What is unfolding right in front of the others isn't just on the magnitude of a battle or even multiple at all. This is war, at its rawest. The sound completely drowned out everything else as it turns into an orchestra of chaos. Music to her ears, madness to others. Both sides refuse to give in as their battle disrupts even the air around them. It is just war, only war.

Bullets, shells, chains. To think that the wall will now face its inevitable destruction just because of its own unmatched firepower in the first place, to think that their very abilities got completely exploited by her out of all things. Their weapons being continuously taken away by her while those things joining the rank of her.

Soon, the section of the wall that tried to take her out has completely dwindled of their own weapons. Deprived of everything, they got nothing left to even use as an effective weapon and meanwhile, Alfin has taken all of their weapons and besides her is a massive galore of cannons, artilleries, machine guns, hanging from the fiery gate itself, all forged in the blazing fire of her soul. Not only she has deprived them of their weapons but she also forged more on her own. A wall of fire one can be said, the match has already set and it doesn't take a brain cell to even tell what is going to happen next.

A wall of blazing ballistics come towards, nothing at the receiving end will ever endure such an attack like that. Nothing, their fate is already sealed from that moment.

All of them impact on the wall within a second and created a massive cloud of smoke in the aftermath. The cloud was so large that it moves with fast speed and covered the entire ground in front of the wall. Alfin has obtained her decisive victory.

*cough* "Is everyone's alright?!" Gudao said while where everyone else is also affected by the aftermath.

"Yeah... To think that she intentionally hide such great power like that." Shirou said as he did observe the battle unfolded in front of him.

"Uwah! So much dust... It gets everywhere in me. It's rough and coarse and annoying!" Illya said as she sweeps the dust from her clothes.

Chaldea has many Servants whose destruction capabilities can surpass her like Karna and Gilgamesh but the most critical part about it is that Alfin has tremendous power for a Modern Servant. It is like comparing a large fleet of bombers dropping napalm on Tokyo compares to a single one that drops the nuke in Hiroshima. Both crippled the city and the Tokyo bombing was far more destructive but Hiroshima leaves a much bigger impact on the history for its sheer destructive capability with a single strike.

The dust died down, as the clearing wind howls from the distance. Signaling the conflict has ended, everyone else rises up from their location and saw a massive gap in the wall just before them a bit ago.

Arnold has already stood up before them long before then, seeing the destruction in front of him. His clothes were completely tainted with dust, implying that he didn't even hide, he just stood there and watch all of it unfolded and didn't even flinch when the dust cloud approaches him.

He stood there, with a far off look on his eyes. He doesn't even know how to put the feeling he has now into words. It just all too sudden to him in this way, he felt like he suddenly got left behind helplessly while others just strife to the horizon.

Suddenly, Alfin collapsed to her knees, Arnold realized and quickly make a full leap towards her. He held onto her as tight as he could as if fearing that she would suddenly disappear.

"Alfin! Are you alright?!" Arnold tried to get her attention.

"Yeah... I'm alright, it is just tiring whenever I had to do this. This is what would happen if I used my skill and Noble right at one same time." Alfin reassured

To be fair, it is right that she isn't in any state of danger considering that she did something like this 3 times already by this point.

"Sorry, it is just that... I don't want to lose you, especially this far." Arnold said apologetically.

"Oh, you getting interested in me?" Alfin teased Arnold when she heard what he said.

"No! I mean... Sigh, let just get over all of this okay" Arnold said panically before calming down.

"So this is your prowess after all. I wonder what those abilities of yours mean." Richard said as he approaches two of them.

"I wonder what your Noble Phantasm is actually like, I looked at it and still now understand what it supposed to mean," Gudao said as he also approaches too.

"Let just say, it is a secret," Alfin said with a bit sarcastic in her voice.

Arnold is definitely not amused and thus looks at Shirou as if he wanted to feel that others would feel absurd by the same thing.

"Trust me, not all Servants are made equal. Just look at Mata Hari as an example and you will stop being envy every time." Shirou said as if he doesn't have any better options.

Everyone soon gathered up and proceeds to move to the next area. There is nothing that would stand in their way at this wall anymore. This is just simply a walk towards the inside of the next ring. Into another frontier, they go.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Third Ring - Downpour**_

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* * *

They entered through the massive gap on the wall and what greeted them first is an entirely new atmosphere. It seems that the rain has intensified more than before, from drizzles into downpours, if it weren't for the Bounded Field that was imprinted onto Gudao's cloth, he would have been completely wet by now.

"So this is the inside of the third ring? The buildings here look even more rundown than before." Illya commented.

Everyone just looks at the whole area around them with eyes of disbelieve, something is very wrong yet none of them can tell what is it. The Nazi easily has all of the power it takes to built such infrastructure evidence by the wall that Alfin took a load of her efforts to breakthrough.

"Damn, I know that missing a night of sleep is supposed to be a thing that I supposed to use to but I really can't help much of this drowsiness of mine." Gudao said as he felt the increasing tiredness is getting the better of him.

"We better find a good place to rest up. Better to be safe than sorry." Shirou said as he pulled his Master before he fell to his knee.

"Yeah, I know damn well the fine line between determination than insanities. I will not push myself to self-harm if I can help it. If it would benefit others then I will fight to the bitter end. If it would just drag others down, then I would better knock it off." Pierce said to Gudao.

Pretty much everyone else agrees on that. Chaldea easily held the majority of the manpower and losing him would basically deal a killing blow to the operations. His state of health is of the utmost importance, that fact can't be downplayed at all.

Just as when Arnold is about to get away from the wall, he heard something. A voice, a voice of someone familiar yet distance.

_**Find me...**_

Arnold instantly turned around and look back, that voice definitely not belong to anyone in the crew. This isn't the first time he heard it and thus he can no longer pass it as a trick that his mind played on him

"Everyone! I heard something!" Arnold quickly told everyone else.

Soon, everyone else came to a sudden stop, they didn't move any distance at all so they didn't mind but they felt that Arnold should give a good reason for stopping them.

"What is this particular something you might ask?" Shirou asked him since wasting time is one of the things he hated the most.

"A voice of somebody. Quick! Scan the wall with your Hawkeyes!" Arnold asked Shirou.

"We didn't hear anything at all," Alfin said to Arnold.

"But maybe there is something this time!" Arnold keeps insisting.

Shirou reluctantly does on his behalf and so he scrutinized the remnants of the wall with great details. The difference compares to the last time he did so at the previous wall is that there is actually something.

"There is indeed something there at the distance near the gap by 100 meters," Shirou said to Arnold.

And the moment he received the most likely location. He quickly made a run for it, not even caring which side from the gap. And so he managed to confirm his own suspicion, a steel blast door, unenchanted.

He simply just spartan kick the door wide open and the only thing is in there is a trunk, one that is used to carry work of arts and a considerably large one at that.

"This is something?..." Arnold felt a bit confused, the lock is hard-enchanted so that force open won't work against this at all.

"So are you happy now? Now let us move on, we will going to need a lot of rest for this time around. Fighting an entire day with no breathing room is going to take a toll on Servants regardless of who you are." Shirou said as he peeked through the door.

"Uhm, yeah... I shall be going now." Arnold said as he carried that trunk on his shoulder with him. Normally, he would just leave it there and continue onward but something in his mind told him to hold onto that trunk.

And so everyone else keeps going. And unknowingly, Arnold's action will soon be a great impact on everyone else's fate.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Melancholic Voice**_

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* * *

In about half an hour, they managed to find a perfect resting spot. An abandoned luxurious hotel nearby a lake, something like this still standing under this rain without proper maintenance is nothing short of a miracle.

"Thank god that there is still something here other than collapsed houses," Kuro said as she steps inside the hotel while completely soaked. Although rain has no more effects than an annoyance to Servants during combat, to be soaked wet and then enter somewhere dry would at least get to the nerves of someone.

"Kiri, can you please get our Master to a bed please?" Iri said to her husband.

"Okay, you also get at least some rest too," Kiritsugu said as he takes Gudao to the closest room.

"Oh, dear... Both two of us got in the same state and here you worry about me more." Irisviel said.

"Somebody has got to be on guard duty so who would volunteer?" Pierce said.

A single hand was raised and it belongs to Arnold.

"You?" Pierce asked if he wanted to be sure of Arnold's decision.

"Normally I would have taken a rest, especially after such a fight from before. But I felt that there is still something I can't ignore yet. Just not right now." Arnold said.

"I gonna guess that it has something to do with the trunk you had, right? Either way, I hope that you would at least do your job well." Pierce said as he walks towards the stair and moves to the upper floor.

Arnold sighed, why on earth is there a voice inside him to find someone. He just hopes that this trunk that he brought along for half an hour is actually worth something.

He climbed to the rooftop of the hotel through an array of staircases. After he managed to do so, he stands underneath the rain while looking up to the gray sky above. He keeps staring at it intently, like a lone fish in the ocean.

"Hey, you called me for something?" Kiritsugu said as he looks at Arnold from the doorway.

"Oh, yeah. I wanted to ask you if you can lockpick this trunk open." Arnold said as he looked back at the Assassin.

"That you said? It is far easier than child play in my line of works. Just let me have a look at it." Kiritsugu said as he walked toward the trunk that Arnold placed on the ground.

Kiritsugu analyzes the trunk carefully, mages would normally install traps on their keepsake just so it would deter anyone from stealing from them. Fortunately for Kiritsugu, he wasn't called a Magus Slayer without a good reason. He can easily disarm or neutralize traps with ease that breathing just far easier to him.

Kiritsugu started to get suspicious, there is no Bounded Field that was installed on this thing, no sign of mechanism that would activate any trap at all, the lock despite being hard-enchanted is extremely simple that a normal human thief could easily pick it open. He felt that there is something to more than this thing and he refused to believe that it could be so simple. If anything, it just screams that it is a trap more.

"Uhm... Don't you think that you are overthinking about this too much." Arnold askes as Kiritsugu stares at the trunk intently.

"Sorry, but I didn't survive this far by not taking unnecessary actions," Kiritsugu said.

"Oh lord. I am starting to feel that you actually spend more time trying to find any non-existant trap than to open it." Arnold said as he started to get more impatient.

"Getting impatient? How about I teach how to lockpick this thing open by yourself then. If anything happens, it is your fault." Kiritsugu said mockingly.

"Fine, it is better than looking at you staring at the lock," Arnold said as he approaches the trunk for himself.

Kiritsugu flicks a lockpick towards Arnold while Arnold catches it in midair. He approaches the trunk tried to look inside the lock to see what it is. He then just bent the lockpick in a careful manner. He then inserts the lockpick and in the next moment, the trunk's lock opened.

Arnold started to anticipate what is in this trunk, it is something that is so important that it messed with his mind? Whatever it is, the content inside would easily give him the shock of his life.

_**Words of God: **__** For this part, use the song that I have prepared for this very moment. **_**_ 'https:'/'/drive "dot" google "dot" com/open?id=1ggTX8_'_NVqg0RMgJa-e6yoQjK8QOAG0E and remove the " ' " for the site._**

"What?" Arnold said as he can't believe what is actually inside the trunk.

Inside the trunk, was a blonde little girl, wearing a gothic dress and maid headwear. Out of all things he expected, this was definitely not one of them. She is still breathing, he checked carefully of that and thus he can safely assert that fact.

"What did you find in-" Kiritsugu walks toward the trunk to see its content and the content itself surprised the Assassin before he completes his sentence.

"What the fuck! Why is there a girl here?!" Kiritsugu said as not even him can think that the trunk would contain a person.

"I don't know! Something in my mind told me to find someone and I just thought that there is someone nearby. My mind just told me to bring that trunk with me and I am completely oblivious to the fact that the trunk would have a person in there." Arnold argued back.

Kiritsugu wanted to argue back but he decided that continuing this senseless cycle doesn't worth a damn to him and so he just shut up and suggests something else.

*sigh* "Why don't we just brought her inside, leaving her out under the rain just doesn't sound right to me." Kiritsugu said although knowing him, he would just leave her underneath the rain for all he cares.

And so Arnold brought her into the inside of the hotel, finding a good enough room that doesn't leak everywhere. A while later, he managed to find an acceptable enough one.

He dusts away the bed with a sweep of his hand and all of them just flying chaotically in the air, he tried to sweep them away from his face and he just makes a much bigger mess by doing so. Soon he stopped and just laid her out on the bed.

He then sits on the chair in the room, not because of tired or anything, he just felt that he had to. The chair faced towards the window near the bed. He watches her sleeping as the light shines on her, a light that doesn't belong to a blazing sun nor it was a dim-lit light of near-dusk. It was a peaceful light, one that soothes the soul of those people who embraces them when they got the time to notice it. The scene that is playing out here is just serene, one can't feel but to remain silent or else they would break the very thing that makes this in the first place.

Arnold sighed, he felt that imprinting this into his mind just won't be enough, he wanted a physical image of this thing, drawn on something with great detail. And so he searched the room for something and surprisingly enough, there is a considerable-sized piece of yellowed paper in there. He then searches within his mind for that piece of graphite, when he entered the same forgotten armory, there is a pencil there, sitting lonely on the table. He instantly took it and quickly head for the exit.

Having all of what he needed, he sat back on the chair relaxed and started to draw the scenery in front of him.

"Even if it looks bad, just having something to remind me of it is better than to leave it in my mind and then just gone unnoticedly one day," Arnold said as he started to draw on the paper.

Time flows like a river for it stops for nobody.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

**_Sweet and Bitter_**

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* * *

**In the hotel's kitchen**

Shirou Emiya, once again fulfilling his kitchen duty. Using what is remaining of the kitchen's utensil after he rigorously washed all of the rust on them with ease. Now, he is doing what he needed to, a proper meal to revitalize everyone's stamina, especially his Master.

"Hey, our princess here said she wanted to have some tea," Illya said to her brother as she enters through the kitchen's door.

The dining hall and kitchen were connected for common-sense reasons. And in the dining hall which also acts as a tearoom, is where Alfin is sitting for her tea.

*sigh* "The atmosphere here is so serene that I wanted to bring the very scenery here into a physical portrait. Too bad that there is nothing that I could use to draw." Alfin said as she stares through the window panes that lead to the raining outside.

"Here is your tea, princess," Illya said as she places the dish that there are a marble teapot, teacups, and a bowl of sugar on it.

"Oh dear, I wasn't a princess at all, who told you that I was one in the first place?" Alfin said with a bit embarrassment on her face.

"No one! I just call you that considering you held yourself with a regalness that befits a princess itself." Illya said proudly as she praises her.

"Haha... I see. Guess even my beauty could probably befit one so I wouldn't say that you are wrong." Alfin said back as she pours her tea into the teacup.

"Either way, you seem to be distraught by something. Do you have something on your mind that you would like to speak up?" Illya asked as she sits on the chair in front of Alfin.

"Oh, you seem to worry about me a lot, huh? Why do you always putting so much effort into trying to get to know others." Alfin askes as she sips on the tea a bit.

"Well, for two reasons that I could think of. First, is to get to know much better of the new people around me, aren't people work better with each other when they knew each other well, right? And second... Is that I really fear the prospect of misunderstanding among each other." Illya said as her expression became less lively as she begins to get into the subject that she doesn't want to trek into the most.

"Oh? Then do tell me why?" Alfin asked as she started to get interested in the conversation.

"You see, Kuro and I are the twin of each other but not in the exact senses of biological birth. It is more of that she was my previous self before getting sealed to prevent herself from being used for bad purposes that could cause untold destruction. I myself was simply a byproduct that was born from the aftereffect of said sealing. For the majority of her life, she sees the world through my visions, the grudge that she built up within herself could have caused adversary effects to me until the chance for her to break free from me has come to her. With no hesitation, she quickly leverages and reborn as an entirely different being from me. That is the Kuro you know and seeing right now, using the same power as my brother in order to just exist as a separate being from me." Illya said sadly.

"You know, it is hard to ever believe that you two actually have some sort of turmoil between each other in the relationship of you two. You two always getting along with each other so much that it is easy to assume you two having a sisterly bond that is unbreakable." Alfin commented after hearing her side of the story.

"Well, it is all in the past. At first, we were at odds and always being competitive with each other. But now, after went through so much hardship and trails, our understanding of each other is on a whole different level compared to before. You could say that time change a person by a lot." Illya said as life returned to her face.

"Yeah... It does change a person a lot." Alfin said as her mood started to drop from before even if slightly.

"Oh, I am sorry if I have touched you somewhere bad. Please forgive me!" Illya said panically that she accidentally turn the mood sour.

"Oh. No, it is not about you, it just something about my past. Please don't be feeling too concerns about that." Alfin tried to calm her down while putting sugar cubes into her tea.

"Oh, okay. But still if in any case, you can- Uh... Are you drinking tea with sugar or sugar with tea there?" Illya's expression shifts quickly as she sees Alfin putting 10 sugar cubes into the tea.

"Sorry. It is just my sugar tooth, an incurable one at that. The only sugar I have for a while is just rotten bags of sugar inside abandoned buildings." Alfin said panically as she realized that Illya noticed it.

"Sigh, it is okay, you can have as much sugar as you like. Just that I didn't expect anyone to have such a severe case of 'sweet tooth' like that." Illya said as she sees Alfin sipping on the teacup full of sugar.

"Hah, you see, for the majority of my life back when I was alive. I didn't get much chance to ever have tea. It was a period of unrest where it is easy to go meltdown on others without ever thinking of the consequence of one's action. In that time, to get to drink tea is a luxury beyond most people's wildest dreams." Alfin said as she sips on the sugary tea.

Illya keeps listening intently, she has told her side of stories and so she believes that she should listen to her.

"Tea by itself is bitter, some may have the sweet tints but those are exotics and far more valuable than some people's lives. It is like a metaphor of life itself, for it has always been a path of suffering with absolutely no ends in sight. The only thing that one could do to alleviate the bitterness is to sweeten the tea with sugar, much like trying to alleviate the suffering and difficulty of one's life." Alfin said melancholically, with a voice that makes one's mood turn sad if they embrace it.

Illya listens attentively, what she said does make sense but one that she couldn't quite agree on. All of this reminds her back during the event of Incineration of Humanity where she and her family almost died hadn't for the revelation that turned their tides. The mastermind behinds it did have that same idea and decided to turn humanity into immortal beings by going back beyond the Genesis with the energy obtained by erasing timelines.

It was such a close call that she doesn't wish to remember it at all and the predicament she and everyone she knew being in is definitely much bigger than the Incineration of Humanity for the only thing that would happen should they fail is the complete erasure of humanity itself.

"Oh, sorry for being so philosophic right now before. I didn't mean to make you feel down in the mouth." Alfin said apologetically.

"It's okay. If I had let those words got into my heart anytime before, I wouldn't have made it this far. In a time like this, all of Chaldean Servants need to be headstrong and enduring should they wish humanity still have a future ahead." Illya said as she wanted to downsize how much did it hurt her from inside.

"Sigh, you are very strong for your own age. To carry this much burden yet you still carrying a smile on your face. You are a lot mature than you think." Alfin said as she felt grateful.

"Well, even if I am deep in this madness. I know for sure that I am not alone, I still have my family and friends and I am sure that we would be able to make it to the end no matter what." Illya said in a gracious tone.

Alfin smiled, to see such an optimistic attitude within this bleak atmosphere really freshen up the mood. Perhaps, it makes her realize just how melancholic their surroundings right now.

"You know, it is good to memorize things into your memory but you know what else is also good? To burn the very image itself into a physical drawing." Alfin said as her artistic sense gets tingling.

"Woah! You know how to draw?!" Illya said as she was surprised to know that Alfin is actually into art.

"Well... I do know how to draw but it is not necessarily good if you know what I mean..." Alfin said as she got embarrassed for saying it out loud.

"Are you kidding?! To see an artist's drawing is an experience that one shouldn't miss at all. Chaldea has many artists and all of them took great pride in their works. You shouldn't be selling yourself short like that. Not even when I haven't seen it yet!" Illya said as she tried to encourage Alfin.

"Well. Guess I could draw for you I guess? But I don't have anything to draw on or to draw at all." Alfin said before she got interrupted by something that shouldn't be named.

"Well, well. It seems like someone wanted to draw for Illya huh? Don't worry about it for I can easily create a piece of paper and a pencil for you with my capabilities." A magic wand came out from Illya's back as the thing said to Alfin.

"Uh... What is that?" Alfin said in confusion as she points her finger at the flying wand itself.

"Oh, it's Ruby. My magical wand slash pervert whose capabilities would make any magus green with envy but that is balanced out by her whimsical and perverted nature." Illya said with a deadpan expression.

"But why? Why would someone create such an oddity like this?" Alfin asked as she didn't even believe what is going on in front of her eyes.

"If you ask me, it is the Second Magician, Zelretch. An immortal and to be fair, being an immortal and the only thing can kill you will be boredom. That guy created Ruby and Sapphire as a cruel joke for him and as a gag on magical girl, not that you would understand the magical girl part. But the thing is that his humor can't prevent his pride from turning the said joke into a weapon of mass destruction with great power behinds it and thus only makes the joke playing itself even more." Illya said as with a blank expression that said 'You'll get used to it'.

After hearing it, Alfin just decided to forget her attempt to even make sense of what is going on in her testimonies.

"Sigh. Just give me a pencil and a piece of paper so that I can be done with all of this without having a headache at the end." Alfin said to Illya.

"Okay! Here we go!" Ruby said as she created a piece of paper and a pencil right in front of her.

"Okay... Now I shall-" Alfin said before she got interrupted by the voice of someone.

"Illya! Onii-chan is telling you to get into the kitchen so that we can bring the lunch out here." Kuro said from the kitchen to her sister.

"Wah!? Oh no! I overstayed for too long! Sorry, but can you keep drawing? I would like to see your drawing or sketch or whatever. I'll bring lunch out soon." Illya said to Alfin as she quickly enters the kitchen.

Alfin looks as Illya's figure gone into the kitchen, looking at the paper on the table and the atmosphere around her. It was almost as if her inspiration got ignited as soon as when she grabbed the pencil and then quickly sketch on it. Slowly and surely, she believes that she can bring the whole atmosphere into a drawing. Weaving graphite into lines, soon the rough sketch itself became real.

In just a while later, Illya came out, holding a bowl of meat stew to the table. She decided to at least check on Alfin's drawing.

"Hey! Alfin, how did the drawing go-" Illya said before she got surprised by the rough sketch that Alfin drew.

"Oh, sorry. It didn't come to your expectations, right?" Alfin said as she felt a bit shortcoming.

"What! If this beautiful drawing here is just your rough sketch then I would be mindblown to see you drawing a full-fledged drawing." Illya said cheerfully after seeing Alfin's drawing.

The drawing was just simply her sitting on the chair with the tea set on the table. It is basically her in the dining hall, looking from a different perspective, but what really makes it special is that there is something in this drawing felt very melancholic, like a certain lack of something yet it is still whole regardless. If one thing can be said from this drawing though is that she can portray things from a different perspective without ever looking at said perspective. It is a skill that requires a great imagination to utilize in the first place.

"Oh! Can you call everyone else to join for lunch, we still have a lot to bring out in the kitchen and we made more than enough for everyone." Illya said with that cheerful tone of her.

"Okay. I shall carry it out then." Alfin said it happily as she stands up exit through the dining hall's door.

And so she carries out happily, with a feeling of satisfaction.

**Meanwhile, back to Arnold's location**

"Well, to think that I could easily sketch out so fast that I ended up having my rough sketch having its quality match up with painting. Oh well, I did volunteer to overwatch this place and so I will at least do it properly" Arnold mumbles to himself as he walks alongside the hallway.

Arnold looks through the window panes of the hotel that overlooks the lake, he doesn't have any much thing in his mind except basic communications and calculation and some 'here and there' memoirs that are loosely connected with each other. His mind is looking at the void in front of him, trying to figure out why does he get summoned, why he has nothing in his mind. Those burning questions his mind wanted to be resolved but he has nothing to resolve them.

While he is walking on the hallway aimlessly, he accidentally bumps into someone he knows well.

"Gah! I'm sorry for accidentally bump into you, Alfin." Arnold apologizes as both of them stumbles into the ground.

"It's okay, I was supposed to find you in the first place." Alfin also apologizes to him.

Alfin picks herself up before noticing a piece of yellowed paper that has a sketch on them. She takes a look at it and then smiles at him.

"Wow, to think that there is another person with artistic sense like me around here," Alfin said happily to him.

"Oh please, I am not that good at it and nobody ever likes it to begin with." Arnold said as he wanted to avert the attention that was just laid on him.

"If this is what you draw when you consider yourself bad then I am going to really fear to see it if you are confident," Alfin said enthusiastically as she gets to see another fellow artist.

Arnold doesn't even know how to follow up on the conversation he has with her and then he realized that he does have to announce a new person that he just found.

"Um, Alfin? I got something to say-" Arnold tried to speak to her until he realized someone familiar is right behind her. That same girl that he found from the trunk has just woken up and walking around the building.

"It was the same girl that I found in the trunk! When did she wake up!?" Arnold's thought begins to scream in panic as he started to sweat bullets.

"Arnold? You starting to sweat profusely. What's wrong?" Alfin started to get worried as she looks at the sweat that is dripping on his forehead.

"Uh, nothing?" Arnold said that in hope that she doesn't notice what's wrong. Unfortunately for him though, she turned back and see that little girl.

"Woah! She so cute!" Alfin said excitingly as she leaped towards that gothic little girl who was just standing in the hallway. The moment she got close, she quickly hugs her as tight as she humanely could.

Arnold just look there with a deadpan look, his expectation was completely knocked right off and thus he just sighed. He sighed for the fact that he has just worried over nothing.

"Oh boy, it seems like I will have a lot to explain to everyone." Arnold said as he braced himself for whatever to come.

And so afternoon came with everyone comes to the dining hall, where they will all discuss the matters at their hands.

**A while later in the dining hall**

The animosity air of the dining hall started to become stagnant just even a while later. Everyone looks at the blond gothic girl and then looking back at Arnold who is sitting next to her with an unamused expression except for Alfin who already takes a liking of her already.

"So... Who is she and where on earth did she come from?" Larry said to Arnold with an unamused stern voice.

"I know that all of you has a lot of question to ask and some of you may find her suspicious. But please, let me explains first." Arnold said to everyone else at the dining table.

Everyone looks at him, expecting a satisfactory answer.

"First, I don't even know who she is. I simply found her in the trunk that I brought along from the third wall. You did found her the same time as me, right?" Arnold explained and then directs towards Kiritsugu.

"Yeah, I was expecting some sort of traps but the only thing I find in there was just her, unconscious but still alive regardless," Kiritsugu said.

"Okay then, how would you explain why you didn't notice her being a Servant?!" Shirou Emiya said to Arnold.

"Huh? What?" Arnold is completely out of the loop, Servants supposed to detect other Servants?

"To be fair, considering a large amount of Servant concentrated in this area. It is really easy to mistake other presence to others. The only reason I could detect in the first place is that I scan the Servants around our Master's surroundings and find out that except for Pierce and Gudao, everyone else has a detectable Spirit Origin and thus I decided to conclude her to be a Servant. There are simply no other answers" Da Vinci's hologram shone beside Gudao as she said.

"That's strange to me, too. Being an Assassin, I could easily tell the difference in the aura between different kinds of Servants. But she somehow managed to slip past my senses and thus I just consider her to be a normal person. That was when the three of us were nearby each other. The only way this could happen is that her aura was extremely identical to Arnold." Kiritsugu said to his son.

"Okay... Are all of you going to accuse me of being like a mastermind of some sorts when my knowledge of what is going on is just a bare zero?" Arnold said as he felt that for each second pass, more people will just point their fingers at him.

"So does she have a name? What are her abilities?" Desmond asks Arnold to see if he knew anything first.

"Look, I am as much of braindead when it comes to her. I have only known her for like what? 20 minutes? IF anything, we should hear it from her directly." Arnold said as if he is given a fool's errand.

Everyone then looks at her, expecting her to answer. What they didn't expect though is that she actually willingly answer it without anyone force her to.

"My name is Alice, or whatever you wanted to call. I am indeed a Servant and I am not going to deny it." The blonde gothic girl answers it with assurance.

"That was... fast." Even Kuro got surprised by how cooperative she is.

"So, we can call you 'Alice'?" Gudao asks her again just to be sure.

She simply nodded, and just in a sudden. All of the animosity in the atmosphere before has gone instantly. Everyone simply returns back to having lunch much like before.

"Having another Servant joining the party is great. But how well would she fare since she got thrown in a trunk and unable to get out in the first place." Desmond thought as he felt something doesn't quite add up.

"Dude, I don't think she got thrown in the trunk is because she was forced to. I don't quite believe that a Servant would get stuck in a trunk in the first place." Larry sends his thought telepathically to Desmond.

And so the afternoon when by, without a single incident happened.

* * *

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_**Ingenuity Combine**_

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* * *

**Late Afternoon, in a large storage room within the hotel**

"Okay, I got everything readied for my workshop." Richard said as he stands proudly in front of the new makeshift workshop he built with anything that is still available.

The reason he built a workshop here is that considering everyone will remain here for about two or three days, he decided to go to take a look at Pierce's armament so that he can assess what he should do right now.

"First, the escalating enemies' firepower. He can do fine against Azure Soldier but against a Servant and he will be dead in an instant. The best thing he could do is to stay low profile and not drawing too much attention." Richard thought as he looks at the Widow Maker.

"This drum mag, I have obviously thought that increased ammo capacity is a good thing but now, with enemy Servants taking the frontline more and more, it just doesn't make sense to use it anymore since its size prevents Pierce from able to go prone. Now, what do I replace it with..." Richard thought as he analyzes.

"Hey, is anyone here?" Alfin spoke as she peeks through the storage door.

"Oh, why do you come here?" Richard replied as he looks at Alfin entering through the door.

"You see, I was wondering where did you go since I have something to ask you of. And then I noticed that I didn't find out about this room until now, silly me right?" Alfin said while she felt a little embarrassed.

"What do you want to ask?" Richard sighed as he wanted to get to helping with his Master as soon as he can.

"You know... Your Noble Phantasm that you used against that mechanical robot? I wanted to see if I can create a weapon after it!" Alfin said what she wanted.

"Out of all the things you wanted to be your weapon, you chose my greatly outdated invention?! Sorry but if that is the case then I am going to carry on doing what I needed, that will be waiting." Richard then turns away from her then moving forward to his workbench.

"Wait! What if I help you resolving whatever matter you need to do then can I join in?" Alfin quickly trying to persuade him from dropping her off.

Richard stopped in his track, he decided that if it is going to make short work of his job then he at least try. If he doesn't have the solution then somebody else might have.

"Are you sure you wanted to join?" Richard asks her again to check again.

"Yeah! Just tell me what it is then I will try my best to do so!" Alfin tried to act more cheerful to convince him.

"Fine then, tell me if you know how to increase this weapon ammo capacity while not hindering my Master's ability to change his stance." Richard then takes her to the workbench to see if she know how to fix it.

Alfin looks at it for a moment, and then she started to chuckle and then laughs.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me that you lost your mind?!" Richard said in confusion as he didn't expect such a turn of emotion.

"Sorry, but I didn't expect you to get into trouble with this kind of stuff but I guess it is really understandable after all." Alfin said while trying to calm herself down from the laughing fit she just made herself in.

"So how do you intend to address this issue?" Richard said as he waited for Alfin to give her answer.

"Easy but I hope that your Master can accept carrying more weight than usual," Alfin said as she doesn't want any repercussion for giving her answer.

"Whatever, my Master is a soldier and one with high rank at that although it most likely doesn't matter anymore. If carrying extra weights would be able to save his life then so be it." Richard said as he accepted whatever consequences may happen.

"Okay then, I shall do it." Alfin said as she grabbed the tools on the workbench for herself and then started to tinker with the gun.

Richard looks intently, worrying that she might be going to screw something up considering that he is the one that knows how to install mana circuits properly.

Before he realizes it, she quickly said to him.

"Done!" Alfin said as she quickly closes the gun's newly installed chamber cover.

Richard looks at the remade gun and sees a bullet belt linked straight into the gun. He didn't quite catch it at first so he asked her curiously.

"Uhm... What change did you make for the gun?" Richard asked for he didn't see the inner mechanism of the gun yet.

"Oh you silly, it is one of the most important facets of any modern machine gun. Belt fed mechanism!" Alfin said with satisfaction.

Richard stood there for a while, thinking of what Alfin just said and then it just dawned on him like.

"Oh... OH!" Richard said as he held his head to prevent himself from mindblowing of just how simple the solution is.

And soon, both of them laughed at each other and that is just how they got on each other terms really quick.

"Haha, I did my part of promises so you would better do your part too!" Alfin said as she tried to calm her laughter.

"Haha, fine. Shall we join forces then?" Richard said as he calmed his laughter down.

"Yeah, the path ahead of us will be thorny and we will have to discard any discrimination should we wish to reach there." Alfin said cheerfully.

And so the two genius joined forces together. And whatever they create will surely stand up to the test that they will face.

_**Words of God:** **For this part, play Zero no Kiseki - Gleam of Septium**_

**Meanwhile, at Gudao's room**

"Da Vinci, look for the name 'Larry' in the database for any results," Gudao said through his telecom.

"Okay, I shall call all of our knowledgable Servants to check through the database" Da Vinci said through the telecom to her Master.

The call soon cut off after that, Gudao just lies there on his bed, thinking of what to come. All those 6 Lostbelts that he has to go through, all of them were no short of torturous at all. Sacrifices were made and there were so many times that the situation was so hopeless that he genuinely wishes that he was dead instead. But he made through all of them regardless with no Chaldean casualties so far.

And comparing them to this Singularity, it is like comparing Dark Soul to some random kid's game. The differences are huge like the gap between heaven and earth.

Gudao lies there while looking at the rainy sky through the window. It soothes his soul for a bit but it can't remove his fear of where Chaldea's future will be headed for. Especially if the world can still return to normal after destroying all of the Lostbelts and defeat the masterminds behind them, there is no doubt that Chaldea will be hunted to its very destruction by the Mage Association. Now that he thinks about it, being lenient to them is part of a reason why Chaldea is also deep in this mess in the first place.

"This is nothing short of a temporary vacation during this tireless journey," Gudao whispers silently to himself, for nobody else to hear at all.

Somebody entering his room, he didn't find it surprising at all for it was his Servants entering. To said precisely, it was Kiritsugu and Irisviel.

"Master, can't we have the permission to go scouting the outside area and built a perimeter in case of any enemy going near us," Kiritsugu asks his Master.

Gudao just simply gives the green light for the two of them. Those two are known to be the 'asspull' for they managed to break out of impossible situations with their sheer skills combined. If they are together then nothing short of the Type would kill them. That is just to show how much faith does Gudao put on both of them

"You two can do whatever you two wanted, I have nothing against at all. Just leave me alone for now." Gudao said in a tired manner.

Both of them exit the room but also hesitantly look back before doing so, both of them do worry about their Master's well being but they have no way of how to help him and so they decided to proceed on what they intended to in the first place.

Their figures soon disappeared from Gudao's sight, carrying on the duty they intended.

**Back to Richard's workshop**

As the sun went down and the night approaches, the tireless working in Richard's workshop can be heard even if no one is nearby it at all. On the inside, the workshop is strewn with parts and scraps everywhere one can see. Some failed working prototypes were discarded in a bin, waiting to be recycled.

"It was one thing to improve a weapon, but to create something new from scratches even if it was a concept is an entirely different matter," Richard said as he started to get tired from repeating failure.

"What attempt was this? 125th? I don't even know anymore..." Alfin said as her own hands have gotten dirty with the grease and oil.

They have already forged many guns created from their collaboration but none of them works as intended. They used their own mana in order to alchemize steel for experimental purpose but after failing this much, they started to felt the real impact of mana exhaustion. Their attempt to combine belt-fed mechanism with the Gatling gun to create something different so far doesn't bear much fruit at all.

The workshop's door opened and a figure peeking inside. It was Larry and he was surprised to see how much things changed.

"Damn, this room was just a storage room in the morning before and now you two turned into your personal playground?!" Larry said as he found this radical change was surprising.

"Sorry for making such a mess but why are you here?" Richard apologizes as he speaks to Larry.

"I tried to find Desmond but he was nowhere to be found and so I just started to search for him and then I came across this room," Larry explained.

"Came across is a hard word when considering what we just did hours ago. I would say that you were led to this place." Alfin said to Larry with a deadpan expression.

"Sigh, anyway. What are you two doing here?" Larry asked after he sighed as he got roped in whatever they do.

"You know, we just learn that combining two concepts with each other isn't a simple job as it sounds," Alfin said in disappointment at herself.

"I see then," Larry said as he checked the bin full of discarded failure prototype. And that is when he suddenly laughed, that reaction definitely tell that he knew a solution and that he actually finds it amusing that someone spent this much effort for something like this.

"That laugh is either you sneering at us for making such a ludicrous attempt on this or you have a solution in your mind," Richard said as he keeps hearing Larry's laughter.

After a while, Larry calmed down and then agree to join with their projects.

"Haha, two weaponsmiths can't even combine their effort for something this simple? I admit that I may have pre-existing knowledge of how to combine them but if it is going to help me having less burden of carrying everyone else's weight then I shall join force too. Desmond can wait, that guy has enough common senses to not doing anything rashly at a time like this." Larry said as he gives his approval of joining the other two.

The three combined their knowledge together. Even if they were people of different origins, by discarding any doubt or uncertainty of each other, their teamwork will surely give birth to a weapon that will easily turn the tide at the most needed time.

**Meanwhile, in Kiritsugu and Iri's location**

"Okay, all done," Kiritsugu said as he checked the entire perimeter of half a kilometer surrounding the hotel where everyone is held up.

After that, both of them proceed to create a Bounded Field with the radius of said 500 meters. Any larger would create unnecessary alarm and any smaller would make it difficult to retaliate should there is a threat that is after them.

*sigh*"You know, Iri... There is something about this that doesn't quite add up to me." Kiritsugu said to his wife

"What makes you think so?" Irisviel asks her husband.

"That little girl which Arnold found in the trunk, there is no doubt that she is a Servant. But there is something very strange about her. There is a dominating aura surrounding her, one that easily trumps even the divine Servant." Kiritsugu said.

"And?" Iri asks for more.

"Think about this. This is 1950 and there is a goddamn satellite on the sky above us that would annihilate any Servant with Spirit Origin year of 1900 and below. Her origin and identity is a complete mystery and the fact that she got trapped in a trunk is also absurd in the first place." Kiritsugu said as he started to get more annoyed.

Iri stood there, seeing the attitude of her husband. While there are many mysteries shrouding her, she believes that everyone should be at least given a chance. That is what Chaldea is, to give everyone a second chance to redo or reattempt what they failed back when they were alive.

"Kiri, think about this carefully. This is also 1950 but the Third Reich is still going strong, there are still many unresolved variables and this is also a time of great advancement of many fields of technology. Who couldn't say that the Reich managed to find a way to subdue her to great extent and leave her in such a lethargic state until now." Iri gives her refutation.

"If that is the case, she should be in Berlin, not here!" Kiri started to argue with his wife.

"Oh please! If nobody has given you a chance and tolerate you when you would start out, you would have been ditched back to the throne!" Iri begins to argue back despite her great temperance.

Both of them started to argue with each other. Things started to heat up until somebody unexpected intervenes

"You two go out here just to argue with each other? I know that married couples need to have some empty place to argue with each other without annoying others in the first place. But, from what you two arguing about, it is about that little girl you two found in the trunk, right?" Desmond said as he steps out from the shadow.

"And what are you doing here following us? Don't tell me you try to snitch on us!?" Kiritsugu raised his voice at Desmond.

"No... It is not even about you two at all. I saw you two sneaking out from the window and thus I decided to follow you two too, considering that you two could have just gone out from the front door and no one would bat an eye on you two." Desmond said calmly at Kiritsugu.

"And you are speaking about her right now because?" Iri asks the medic himself.

"You know, she reminds me of the time back when I was alive, back at the time when I was starting at the military. I got frown upon by many others for my religious beliefs and believe me, they have done all they could to make my life a living hell. All of that just because I said I refused to bear arms because I swore to myself to not kill anybody at all. Sounds ridiculous, right?" Desmond said as he reminiscences on the old time.

"And what does she exactly remind you of?" Kiritsugu takes his turn to asks the medic.

"The reaction of the majority of people here acts towards her is a parallel to what I was treated until my feat of the battle of Okinawa. People only look at the external of others and then deeming them that way. People only want to hear what they wanted to be right, wanted whatever they believed to be true until the actual truth slapped them on the face and there is still the denial going on. All I wanted to say here is that we should treat her like one of us, a brother uh- sister in arm. Innocent until proven guilty, am I right?" Desmond said as he wanted to persuade the couple.

Kiritsugu went silent, he thinks hard about what Desmond just said and remembers about the early hour of his being an ass to everyone he saw.

"Fine. I shall give her a chance to prove herself. If I managed to catch her doing anything conspicuous, I shall then do what I must." Kiritsugu said as started to carry his wife on his back and retreated back to the hotel.

Desmond stood there, seeing the figure of the couple moving away from him. He is a bit glad that he managed to persuade both of them without a problem. Feeling satisfied, he soon moving along, back to the hotel along with them.

**Back to Gudao's room**

"I am very sorry to say but there is nothing that the word 'Larry' actually guided us anything in our WW2 records." Da Vinci said.

"Understood, guess I just have to put an eye on him for now," Gudao said before he turns off the comm again.

He then just lying on the bed, gazing at the window and looks at the raining outside. The dimming light of the mana lamp doesn't help the atmosphere one bit at all.

"Master..." Shirou said as he peeked from the doorway.

"Archer, do you have anything to say?" Gudao asked his Servant.

"No, nothing. It just, I have a nagging feeling that something is observing us, something unseen at a different plane of existence. Something that is threading our fate, one by one. Of course, I might just be too much of a paranoid due to the stress I went through and the lack of rest might have contributed to that." Shirou said to his Master.

"Look, if this is the first time I heard of this, I would have been paranoid too. But Chaldea literally has the vessels of Elder Gods literally fighting along with us, Culthulu, Yog-Sothoth, Nyarlathotep... If it weren't for my literally first encounter being far long ago, I wouldn't have found all of this saying of your just sounds tame to me. I don't know if the idea of getting used to the Outer Elder God is a good idea or not." Gudao said as he remembered how much of a spitting image their vessels and themselves actually are.

"Those Foreigners? They are a bunch of weirdoes but amicable enough nonetheless. They also helped us pulled through some of the critical situations in Lostbelt so we actually are thankful for them." Shirou said as he shudders the thought itself.

And so the time went on as the two of them converse with each other, showing how much trust there is between the two of them.

**Back to Arnold's room**

*sigh*"Just why is there a girl in that trunk, why is there a voice that guided me to pick her up..." Arnold thought as he lies on the bed.

The late-night has already approached, the dinner was great and satisfying and it was no doubt that Shirou's culinary skill easily reached the realm of god itself. Also, according to Chaldea's Master. They were given mana lamps so that they won't have to stumble around the dark or uses their abilities and thus he has one sitting on the table next to the bed as it illuminates the whole room with its light.

"Arnold..." The voice of a little girl was said.

Arnold turned around and saw Alice standing by the doorway while looking at him. She approaches him and jumped onto his bed

"Woah! What are you doing!?" Arnold exclaimed as he felt uncomfortable having a little girl trying to sleep with him.

"What? I just thought it would be fine to sleep with a person who saved me, right?" Alice said with a calm voice.

"I mean... There is a ton of spare room and you just have to go pick mine!?" Arnold tried to convince her to get out of his room.

After a long while of his futile attempt to convince Alice to go to another room and not sleeping at his, Arnold yielded and decided that whatever happens, happens. He lies there, gazing at the ceiling while Alice held him tightly. He thought to himself, thinking about how there are so many people who are far stronger than him. He is not strong enough like those fighters, not smart enough like the tacticians that turned the tide of the war, not fast enough to outrun disasters, not enduring enough to withstand all sufferings. Arnold felt his eyes went dimmer more and more until he closes his eyelids and let his thoughts to flow wherever it might take him. And so he begins his first journey into the earliest memory, the one of his own partner in crime.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

**_A Glimpse into One's Past  
__Scar of Adolescene_  
**

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

He opened his eyes and sees the scenery around him, it was a complete far cry of all of his previous one, it wasn't raining although the clouds still completely covered the sky. There are actually healthy trees and greenery around in contrary to the decay of the battlefield of the previous two.

Completely baffled, is this perhaps... his chance to finally have a clue to his adolescence?

He decided to at least discern where this place is, he is standing on a dirt road and there are wheat fields to by the two sides of the dirt road itself. This is either a rural village or just an agricultural town. Right now, he is standing beneath a tree with its shade drop on him.

"Damn, I need to find a town to see where this place is-" Arnold thought until he caught his eyes on a certain someone, someone that he is extremely familiar with.

The footsteps keep approaching as he heard it clearly, he was in surprise as he can't mistake that dazzling blond hair for anyone else, it was Alfin but seems really young.

"Alfin!" Arnold said as he quickly tried to grab her.

Unfortunately, the moment he thought he is finally able to grab her, his hand completely swift through her, almost as if he was intangible in the first place. His words went to the deaf ears as he tried to get her attention. Soon, he came to the realization that this is might not be his early day but rather it was someone else, Alfin.

"Dear Lord, I am like a ghost, I exist but simultaneously not. I am just a spectator in this fragmented memoir." Arnold mumbled as he looked at his own hand.

Alfin's figure begins to disappear from his sight, he realized that he shouldn't keep staying here any longer. If this memory ain't belong to him then he should at least checking what happened to her in the past.

"Damn it, I need to find more information. But why did I suddenly having her memory in my mind!?" Arnold said to himself as he quickly follows her.

A while later, the dirt roads ended and replaced with gravel paved road, this means that a town is nearby. Even then, it wasn't as bustling as he thought it would, there just only some 'here and there' carts that were parked and market stands that is devoid of any customer.

"Damn, I know that earlier towns aren't anything I would call rich but this is just even worse than how I thought," Arnold said as he looked around the town while following Alfin.

He keeps following around for a while until he saw her entering a building, it was a considerably large enough building compares to the surrounding with a small court in it. When he tried to approach, the gate was shut quickly and then locked. He checked the sign to see what this place is and where exactly and he was soon disappointed to see that the only thing that is eligible enough to read on the sign was 'school'.

"Wait, if I am a ghost, a phantom in this world then why should I be stopped by a gate?" Arnold thought to himself as he realized.

He then just waltz into the school grounds without problems, it also seems that the guard didn't even detect what is wrong at all.

"Haha, time to check how she is doing in this school." Arnold chuckled as he enters the school for himself.

He soon entered the door, common sense told him that it would be obviously a place of teaching since that is what school is for and it can't be anything else. But the moment he entered inside a class did he realized just how much was he wrong.

From what he is hearing, there isn't a single thing that is actually teaching at all, it is just pure indoctrination, preaching of the divine. He now realized why the church and school had to be separated from each other in the first place.

And he is seeing her, sitting on the corner of the room, staring down to the table. There aren't many kids here at all, like 14 or 15 at best. The teacher is a landwhale whose voice would make people go deaf just by how horrendous it is. All of this isn't teaching, this is torture on one's mind and the fact that she went through all of this goes to show just how shit this world is to her.

"You there! Do you hear what I am saying!" The landwhale of a teach direct her attention to the younger Alfin. A shiver went through Arnold's spine as he fears what might be going to happen to her.

The landwhale grabbed Alfin by her hair and pulled her directly to the front of the class. Arnold became silence as he is witnessing humanity's worse right in front of him. He wanted to do something but what can a ghost do if it can't even interact with physical objects!?

"Repeat what I said! NOW!" The landwhale screaming to the top of its throat directly into Alfin. The fact that someone like that cunt allowed to be a teacher proved that humanity might as well not allowed to be alive.

"I-" Before Alfin is able to say anything, the landwhale gives her another jaw-dislocating slap right on her face. Arnold felt his heart is wrenching in pain and shame as his hands are tied and unable to do anything at all.

He felt truly powerless, unable to do anything for her. All he can do was to see the 'teacher' beating down on her, to make her suffer as much as that cunt could possibly be done. He didn't know how much time passed at all, he has already lost track too long ago, he watches her as she getting beaten down by the landwhale that spectacularly failed the duty of a teacher.

After the landwhale got bored with beating her, the cunt grabbed her by the hair again and throw her at her desk, leaving her a sobbing mess there for all who cares. Arnold clenched his fist. He hated to see such a thing like this to unfold right in front of him, he truly hated himself for being too powerless to do something about this.

And soon the landwhale keeps spewing crap of religions while leaving younger Alfin in a state of completely broken. There has to be a limit to how heartless one can be and this just shows to him how wrong he was.

"Please tell me that her parents did do something about this, please." Arnold thought to himself.

For who knows how long it took, the school bell finally rang and the landwhale who was in the mid of spewing its crap suddenly stop and then just walks out of the room like nothing happened. The other students also leave, leaving Alfin lying on the floor while doused in her own tears.

She picked herself up and grabbed her bag and then exit the room, Arnold decided that he should at least follow her around for this time, just hope that it isn't a cycle of torment that stretches for her entire adolescence.

Through the derelict road they go through again, this time around, Arnold saw something surprising. A white dove landing on her hand and it seems to speak something to her, Alfin seems to understand it and said.

"Yeah, please check out more for me then," Alfin said with a sad and tired tone.

The white dove flew away, as she keeps walking on the dirt road. Arnold takes into account the fact that she can actually genuinely understand animals at her age is a wonder itself.

Both of them keep walking until they entered another town, to say that it is rundown is a great underestimation. They do seem to have light at least but that is probably the only virtue they had. They walked for a while and unaware of each other. Arnold felt that this isn't the end of this ordeal yet.

"Woof! Woof!" A German Shephard running for her while wagging its tail at her. It quickly jumps at her and licking her face.

"Woah! Stop there, don't lick my face like that!" Alfin said with genuine happiness. Perhaps that is the first time she is actually being happy after went through the hell that is called her 'school'. It baffles him that it takes him this long to finally see a single good thing this far and perhaps this is the only good thing in this entire day.

She then puts her dog back on the ground and then entering her home, Arnold's mood suddenly turned sour as he felt extreme malice coming out of it.

"That is her home!? Out of everything her house has to be, it has to be 9th circle of hell!?" Arnold thought to himself as the malice started to unnerve him.

He looks at her as she entering it, he felt something bad is only bound to happen. Not that he remaining outside would do anything good and thus he decided to enter the house for himself.

It didn't even take even more than half an hour that her own beatdown continued, if it isn't going to be her piece of shit of a teacher then it has to be her own father. The man with a large figure, one that signifies his authority in this household and that he makes the rule of this house himself.

"That bastard! How can he do this to his own blood and flesh!?" Arnold thought as he is seeing that man whipping his daughter with a belt. All of this infuriating him to no end, that bastard of a father abusing his daughter for not taking in those indoctrinations, no kid should ever be forced to went through this hell themselves.

"Please! Stop!" A woman raising her voice, trying to stop the man from whipping his daughter.

"SHUT UP!" The man yelled at her and then pushes her away.

Arnold for the first time feeling extremely disgusted at how there is no one trying to stop this madness from going on. Disciplinary? No, this is just straight-up abusement. All of this makes him beg the question of why there is a limit to compassion and kindness yet letting this kind of 'behavior' to go deeper than the abyss itself.

The woman quickly tried to shield Alfin from the ceaseless barrage of whiplash, the man saw that as disobedience and quickly lashing out two of them harder. After a while, the man then angrily leaving the room, leaving the two of them completely bruised from top to toe.

"Don't worry, my sweetheart. Mother is here to protect you." The woman tried to calm her daughter down while Alfin is sobbing from the pain that is agonizing her.

"Mother, why? Why does Father have to hurt me?" Alfin tried to speak through the pain that is coursing through her body.

Alfin's mother became silent, she didn't want to see her daughter suffer through this. But she was bound by the 'tradition' and thus her hand is tied as much as Alfin herself.

Alfin then tried to weep the tears from her face and then picking herself up although it was a painful process itself. She then moves upstair into the attic while mumbles the word "Why?". This very moment forever burned into Arnold's memory as it forever representing the worst of worst presenting in each human.

Arnold then follows her, when he sees the attic himself, he can hardly believe that this is where she spends the rest of her day. It is dusty, dark and the only thing that is illuminating the place is a dim-lit oil lamp. A small table that has a stack of religious books on it, he can tell there is the Old Testament in there but some of its section has been rotted to the point of unreadable.

And her 'bed', it is just a bunch of empty potato sacks placed on top of each other into a pile, the blanket is just a rag that is loosely patched with each other. She sits on her 'bed' as she sits there and weeps, wondering why does she have to be treated like this for not taking in the stuff that is being forced down her throat. She keeps weeping until she felt exhausted, he didn't even know how much time has passed away until she has fallen asleep. But he knew something for sure though, he can't keep staying in this place anymore if he still values his sanity.

The light of the oil lamp soon snuffed out. Everything turned into the pitch black and can't be discerned anymore. His vision fell into the void as he can't feel himself. Feeling like a piece of consciousness flowing in the abyss. And so the fragments of this memory came into an end.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Howling Wind**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

Arnold woke up in cold sweat after observing that memory, to think that is what Alfin's childhood makes his own spine shivers in anxiety. Soon, he realized something went amiss.

"Wait... Where is she!? Alice! Where are you!" Arnold said as his instinct pushes him forward.

"I'm here... Why are you getting worried about me all of a sudden?" A calm familiar voice said to Arnold.

Arnold then looks at where the chair is situated and that is where she is, looking at him with a calm demeanor. He then realizes that it is daybreak already, the rain outside has fall ceaselessly throughout all of the time so it doesn't really light up that much at all.

"When did you wake up?" Arnold asks the little girl with worry.

"Just a while ago, I just feel that I should seat on this chair and observing you, that is all there is to this." She said with a calm tone that is so different to the situation right now.

"Sorry, it just... I was so paranoid about what would happen if I just lose sight of you right now." Arnold said in worry.

"Oh, I didn't think I would be your type, huh?" Alice teases the man in front of her.

"If you mean romantic affection then no. All of this is just as a matter of manpower and firepower. There is nothing more to any of this at all." Arnold said with an annoyed expression as he doesn't find this to be the time to be all fun and dandy.

Arnold then walks out of the room, although he just said he doesn't want to lose sight of her. If experience has told him anything at all, it would definitely tell him that there can't ever be one day without any sort of conflict brew up. Something is definitely going to happen today and it will come whether or not. Even so, he definitely needs to meet with a certain person that has no doubt has a great impact on him until now, Alfin. Plus, there is about that

And so wandering on the lonely hallway, he seeks someone that would at least know where she is. Or at least could giving him a hint since he doesn't want to wander the hotel like an idiot.

Well, as fate would have it, Desmond literally just went into his line of sight the moment he thinks about asking someone.

"Hey, have you seen Alfin anywhere?" Arnold asked the medic.

"Her? Well, I haven't seen her this morning or early of it in fact. Although I got the misfortune of choosing the room that is literally underneath Richard's workshop which is on the third floor. I don't know what he is doing but the metal grinding which went on the whole night almost got on my nerve." Desmond told Arnold about what happened last night.

He then proceeds to move to the room, if he isn't able to find Alfin, he would at least know what is going on there right now. Soon enough, he found a door with a decayed sign said 'Storage' which is barely eligible to read. He then enters the room and saw the trio proudly scrub up their project.

"Alfin! What happened here?" Arnold said as he was happy to find her here but also curious about what is going on since the trio consisting here is oddly suspicious, he could understand if Alfin and Richard are here but Larry? That is just begging the question.

"Oh! We're here to prototype an entirely new weapon, built from the concepts that two of us have for ourselves and refined by Larry, the man himself. Behold, the birthchild of our ingenuity!" Alfin said as she shows the gun for him.

The gun is definitely bigger than the infantry-issued machine gun but not as large or unwieldy as the stationary and heavy type. It is a multibarreled machine gun that has some similarities to Richard's Gatling gun, it has a handgrip and foregrip and even stock. There is also the ammo counter wheel built into the side of the gun itself.

"It is cool, I guess? Can you please explain what this thing is in detail?" Arnold asks Alfin.

"Glad to see that you are interested. This machine gun is multibarreled, electrically operated with six barrels and bolts with rotating bolt heads with dual locking surfaces. Its feeding mechanism is operated by gears driven feeder slash delinker with two-piece hinged hatch with our self-invented disintegrating links, The firing rate of this weapon can be changed from 600 RPM to the colossal 6000 RPM!" Alfin explaining the weapon with great enthusiasm.

Arnold got overwhelmed by the details involving this weapon but he also felt that he should listen to more of it.

"This thing fires 12.7x99mm high explosive incendiary high-velocity armor piercer, mana boosted, of course. Giving it the ability to shred through flesh and metal with ease." Larry said as he held the bullet that is used for this weapon in front of Arnold which baffles Arnold by a great degree. A 7.92mm is already considered big to him already. 12.7mm and automatic? Forget even about soldiers, not even armor would withstand such tremendous firepower. This thing will eat its enemies and its ammo like a goddamn woodchipper with logs in it.

"So, how do you intend to feed bullets into this thing if it will just eat a thousand of bullets within a matter of seconds?" Arnold asks for more detail involving this weapon.

"And here is how we resolve that problem, ta-da!" Alfin said as she presents him an ammo box that is attached to a belt of sorts.

Arnold presumed it to be an ammo box and didn't think of anything special about it until she opened the ammo box herself.

"What?!" Arnold said in surprise as the ammo box itself isn't even an ammo box, this thing is a personnel-carrying ammunition manufacturer. He felt his head started to ache when he tried to grasp the concepts of this thing himself.

"You see, this thing will create ammo by siphoning the closest surrounding mana source in the area of 3 meters around it and then using said mana to create bullets belt for the prementioned machine gun. Not only that, when you connect the bullets belt into the gun, the 'ammo box' will automatically recalibrate the ammo counter on this gun. The number will correspond to the amount of bullet which it can create with the mana surrounding, including you." Alfin said in enthusiasm as she started to put the 'ammo box' at the back of his waist, connecting the belt into the machine gun as the counter wheels started to spin into the corresponded number. She then gives the gun to Arnold so that he can feel it himself.

"15636..." Arnold reads the number on the wheels out loud, there are 6 wheels on the ammo counter and he honestly can't think of anyone with enough mana this thing reach 6 digits in the first place.

"Hmm... Decent enough, I guess? It is my turn to see then..." Alfin said to her partner and then takes off the ammo box and wore the thing behind her waist.

The number on this gun jumps up tremendously, the counter now gives the amount of bullet it has is 85214, significantly higher than him. Arnold felt a bit ashamed that a little girl has mana level higher than him by nearly sixfold.

"Don't worry about it, Arnold. If there is anything that can endure this thing's firepower, that thing must be either a god itself or something that this world can't even handle in the first place." Alfin tried to reassure her partner.

*sigh*"Anyway, do you have a name for this thing? I mean, you can't honestly keep calling it as 'the gun', can't you?" Arnold said as he picked up the pieces of the shattered pride that he didn't even know he has.

"Well, we were about to do so but there are so many things that we honestly disagree with each other about its name," Alfin said to Arnold.

"I intended to name the thing as Meat Grinder since staying its line of fire alone would turn you into minced meat in less than a matter of seconds. I gave that name because previously Richard decided to name the thing as Portable Gatling and who on earth would give it such a generic name like that!?" Larry said while expressing his opinion, Richard then stares at Larry unamused.

"Well, I intended to name the thing as Last Paradise but it just sounds way too melancholic and unrelated that I decided to discard it away," Alfin said as she frowned.

"So... You decided to choose me to name the thing?" Arnold asks everyone around and all of them give him the nod.

"Hmm, six barrels, rapid-fire, large-caliber explosive cartridge, what should I give this thing?" Arnold thought as he looks into the gun and then something else caught his attention.

"Hey, what is that revolver on your holster?" Arnold asked Richard.

"This? This is a side project that I made for myself. Consider this thing like a magnum that uses .44 remote detonation explosive cartridges, I call it the HE Anaconda." Richard said proudly as he presented the revolver for everyone else to see, it has the appearance of a Colt SAA revolver but with some changes that can be noticed.

"I see, so then this machine gun should be called. Final Conda. It is like a large snake that devours preys that can be far bigger than them. This thing is a threat to be reckoned by anyone that has seen its firepower." Arnold said as he stapled the name onto the gun.

Everyone seems to agree, it did fit the very definition of this gun after all. A weapon of mass destruction in the size of a carriable machine gun. And so they declared the official name of the weapon.

"Now that we are done with the naming of this weapon, I shall then move on to the final step, giving you the Final Conda," Alfin said as she hands over the gun to Arnold.

"Wait, what!? This thing is your literal blood and sweats, how can you just give it to me so easily like that!?" Arnold said to Alfin as holding the Final Conda.

"Oh you silly, my ability would have allowed me to recreate as many of those as long as I still remember all of the inner mechanisms of the weapon itself. I just think that it is better if you held onto it yourself." Alfin said to Arnold with a mischievous smile.

Arnold sighed, there is no arguing with her at all. It is powerful, there is no doubt about that but how on earth would he lugs the damn thing around the battlefield at high speed?! He then exits the room while letting the gun hanging at his back. If this thing somehow imprinted into his armory then he would just fall laughing because of the irony.

"Hey, there you are! We received an alarm that someone has crossed over the Bounded Field." Shirou quickly caught Arnold at the back as he speaks of the predicament that they are about to get in.

"Wait!? Who!?" Arnold suddenly got confused about how fast things just go from 0 to 100 in a matter of seconds.

The wall nearby them exploded, it seems that the enemy is closing on them already.

"Shit, I have to act now. See you on the battlefield." Shirou said as he leaped out of the hotel through that gaping hole from before.

Arnold looks at the outside and seeing the chaos already unfolded. His fist clenched and he muttered his breath, he held onto his conviction and joined the fray along with everyone else. Whoever is this enemy they have to fight against, it is clear that it will not be a laughing matter anymore.

And so the new battle has just begun.


	11. Ghost Division

**Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

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_**Chapter 11: Ghost Division**_

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Arnold who just joined in the battle now learned that there is no infantry that is present here at all. There are just only Panzer Soldats everywhere he could see. Not even a trace of infantry personnel at all. This is actually bad for him since he has almost no mean to counter-attack against armor. Except for the Final Conda that he has, he just has almost no other way to fight back at all.

While he runs from alley to alley, he found a perfect opportunity to use the machine gun. There are Panzers lining up in a straight line and it is a perfect chance for him to use it.

Deploying the gun and spinning it up, he held the trigger and a torrent of bullets flying out of the gun. But, those Panzers for some reason are quicker than how he remembered and quickly evade the torrent of bullets. They turned around aiming their armaments at him.

"Shit..." Arnold cursed himself for this turn of unexpected predicaments. Not that he intended to die here right now though.

Quickly jumping on his feet, he evaded the barrages of ballistic and continue to fire the gun at those Panzers. All of them are clearly more flexible than how even a normal Panzer from before is which begs Arnold the question of how and why?

Not that its evasion was good enough to evade the continuous storm of bullets, one was unable to get out of the torrent of bullets and got fed with a hail of firestorm until the only thing that remains is its melting feet. Arnold looks at the counter and realized that he is wasting too much bullets on them. He now realized why the number is large in the first place, it was siphoning directly from him, using his own life power as ammunition for itself. It explains why he is actually feeling tired despite he entered the battle for like 20 minutes. He should have known so from the beginning because Alfin literally told him about it.

"God damn these annoying speedy droids, if I keep any of this up I might die from exhaustion before anyone would kill me." He thought as he tried to conserve his bullets.

**"Berserker! Include!"** A loud yelling was said that Arnold can hear.

The little fairy girl smashed a Panzer with what looks like a stone sword-ax with a single strike. Needless to say that it did destroy the Panzer because it was nearly split into half.

"Icicle Stake!" Another voice was heard. He then realized that a certain familiar face has appeared and he is freezing a Panzer's leg at the knee with a wooden stake of sorts. The moment it tried to move, the knee fractured making it tumbles onto the ground and disabled it.

The three of them worked together and took down the rest of the Panzers that were present. It was a difficult task for how literally reflexive and agile they are, but they made it in a short time regardless.

"Holy mother of... I saw the footage of the Singularity involving these Panzers but the ones in the footage were far slower not a goddamn giant athlete wearing metal armor!" Illya said to Arnold

"Damn it, they are too unusually fast, there has to be someone that enable them to do something like this," Larry said in an irritated tone.

Arnold breathes shallowly, he checked the ammo counter and it reads 9852 but at least it is slowly increasing back. He decided that if he is going to use this thing, it must be an emergency. He then hangs the thing at his back and checked the surrounding. The sounds of explosives and ballistics clashing still intensified in a distance. There has to be at least a hundred of those Panzers because there is no way thing would be this loud.

"Hey, mister. Are you fine because you seem to be exhausting yourself." Illya asked Arnold.

"No, I'm fine. It just... It is hard to keep up without proper equipment, you know." Arnold replied to the white-haired little girl.

"You know, I am really starting to think that this is a bad idea to give you such a consuming weapon in the first place. If you wanted to, you can put it in my care." Larry asks the man in genuine care for the first time around.

Arnold thinks hard for a while. While this weapon is a burden to him at most, without it, he would be completely useless in this fight. He tried to impale them with his flamethrower but they just always moving out of his way before he approaches them.

"No, I am fine. Without this, I am completely useless in this fight. But trust me, I won't fall, not until I learned the truth of my identity." Arnold said in conviction.

Arnold then heads out on his own, leaving the other two behind. Unknown to him, both of them chased after him to make sure that they are there to catch him should he got tumbled into a precarious situation.

**Meanwhile, in Shirou's position**

Shirou charged up his Caladbolg and let it loose against the Panzer he aimed for. Unfortunately enough that they managed to preemptively avoid it. He could have charged it for longer to have it move faster but standing still is a fatal decision when modern warfare wanted to have mobility is the king. He jumped away from his previous position when a Panzer aimed its cannon and fired at him.

"Tsk, you really had me no choice there..." Shirou whispers to himself as he traced a Hrunting and twisted it into an arrow.

He fires the altered arrow and the Panzer tried to evade said attack. However, Hrunting has an ability to auto-hit its target and soon a Hrunting pierced into its right leg and crippled its evasive maneuverability.

"Caladbolg!" Kuro said as she traced the arrow and pumped as much mana as she can before firing it. In a matter of seconds, the crippled Panzer turned into smithereens before it realized its demise.

"Damn... They started to adapt their tactic, aren't they?" Shirou talked to his sister.

"Yeah, back at first encounter with them, they were so slow that it is easy to take down, but now? They are so fast that there is no way it was the same thing from before." Kuro said to her brother.

The siblings keep moving on through the ruined suburban, the amounts of Panzers here are just obnoxious large that they can't stop hearing the sound of metallic movement. Shirou would fire a Hrunting to cripple its maneuverability while Kuro would firing the killing shot with the Caladbolg, rinse and repeat. But they can't afford to let their guard down for one second should they wish to remain in one piece and not being chunks of gore.

"Look out!" Shirou quickly warned his sister as both of them got blindsided by a mechanical robot that is moving at high speed.

"OH NO!" Kuro tried to turn her movement around but that thing is about to fire its cannon at her before she can evade.

However, its firing got interrupted by a rocket that is moving at its location. It quickly interrupts its firing so that it can evade the attack.

*gasp*"Jii-san!" Shirou easily discerned whose attack it was, it was his father who just fired an anti-tank rocket at it.

"Tsk, your show of running around started to piss me off. Now, can you keep up with me?" Kiritsugu said with a voice as cold as the 9th circle of Hell.

And so his figure disappears in almost instantly from the Panzer's vision. It tried to look around for where its target is. Both Shirou and Kuro have already jumped out of the Panzer's sight and thus not being its target anymore.

All of a sudden, the Panzer exploded. Not even able to realize why at all. In a distance away from where the Panzer exploded is where Kiritsugu and Irisviel are. His hand was holding a remote detonator. It seems that he used his Time Alter and placed many explosive charges within an extremely short amount of time. So fast that the Panzer didn't even detect him at all.

"You chose to not die from being shot at so I decided to be up close with you. That is all there is to you." Kiritsugu said with pure apathy.

"Jii-san! Can you give me an overview of the situation so far!?" Shirou tried to get into contact with his father.

"Tsk, the situation is worse than I thought, I could have easily installed many anti-tank traps but seeing how all of them are so ungodly evasive. It would have been a waste either way. There are more than a hundred of those Panzers and some of them may actually include those Tigers.

Both Shirou and Kuro swallow at the thought of having to fight another Tiger, again. They are pretty much getting a close taste of death by facing it alone and would rather face another humanity's evil than to fight it with severely limited manpower.

"Damn it, if I am going to face it then I intend to do so. If it is going to come either way then I am prepared to do so." Shirou said in an attempt to steel his resolve.

"Onii-chan, in our previous attempt to take down the Tiger, it wasn't just two of us alone, there is another person," Kuro said in assurance.

"Arnold..." Shirou whispered to himself but everyone else that was present on that battle would have already known already.

"Then why are we waiting for!? We have to find him, now!" Kuro said as she quickly moves to find him.

Shirou quickly follows up with her, they are having a firsthand taste of German's armor unit of WW2, much like how much of other nations were forced to face at the time. This is a fight of contested will and if they don't have what it took to survive this, there won't be much hope for them in further areas.

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_**Wrench in the Gears**_

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"Richard, 12 o'clock position! Take them down." Pierce commanded his Servant like how he did during the Eastern Front before things turn completely upside down.

Richard heeds his words and quickly unload his entire custom made revolver at the Panzer in the direction. He then detonates the bullets with the built-in detonator which quickly made short work of the enemy. They could easily evade it but underestimated the bullets' initial damage and thus just think that they can tank it without a problem.

"Thank god that I made this revolver. Otherwise, I would be deep in this mess already." Richard said as he reloads the gun with custom cartridges.

"And you know what else I am thankful for, the belt-fed modifications which not only cut the size down but also increase my ammo capacity. Even if it was a bit heavier, I am still thankful for it." Pierce said as he inspects the improved BAR machine gun with a built-in ammo counter of three digits.

The ammo box built ammo by siphoning the surrounding atmosphere's mana and not Pierce and thus it creates ammo more slowly but not putting him at risk.

"But still, how many more of those things still roaming around here?! There is just no end to them!" Pierce said as he still trying to stay low profile while fighting back with what he had. The Tax and Death he still has till this far finally found its use so he doesn't really have much right to complain.

"Look out!" Richard warned his Master as he detected something coming here.

The ground trembles, Pierce tried to discern the situation and how he should act but there is too little he can do since he got caught inside the battle of supernatural. It is like a young bird got caught in the tide of a storm.

A Panzer bursts through from the building behind him, Pierce quickly turned around as he sees it trying to swat him like a fly, it got too close to him and he doesn't have enough time to jump out of its way.

"Duck!" A feminine voice yelled to him, his body can only act upon instincts as it can't find any better choice.

In a few seconds, the Panzer behind him got blown to pieces and with only its lower body remain. The thing creeks in a loud noise as it fell to behind.

Pierce turned to where the firer might be as just as how he thought, it was Alfin. She stood there on top of the roof a building, wielding a rocket launcher. Pierce can tell it was a Panzershreck based on its unique protecting shield.

"Pierce! Where's Arnold?! I need to find him!" Alfin said as she tried to ask him for more information about what is going on right now.

"I don't even know! We are simply trying to fight for our life right now!" Pierce said back to her.

Alfin quickly turns away then jump from buildings into buildings. Pierce and Richard can only look at her while her figure disappears from their sight.

"What is going on right now? Why does she need him?" Richard asks himself.

"Normally, I would have said she got lovestruck by him but now? This is definitely a state of emergency." Pierce said in worry, the experience of Eastern Front has made him extremely wary of things that would fly through others.

Something will happen, they could tell it. What will exactly happen? Nobody can tell...

**Meanwhile, in Larry's position**

"BOOM!" Comes the sound of a Panzer bites the dust.

Behind it was Larry, holding an M1 Bazooka Rocket Launcher, at a point-blank range. That is just him being sure that it has to be dead.

"Damn it, just how long do they intend to make us fight?! They really starting to wear us down right now." Larry said as he those things really getting on his nerves.

Illya, Larry, and Arnold. Those three suddenly got caught in the encirclement of Panzers and got attacked ceaselessly. Although all three made it through this far right now. They started to doubt that they will make through unless received external reinforcement.

The ground suddenly trembles with great force, both Arnold and Larry almost got tumble by the sheer force that is going on right now. Illya due to the fact that she is floating most of the time received none of it.

"Larry. What is going on right now!?" Arnold asks the man who is in front of him.

"This... No... They can't possibly." Larry said as Arnold's realization dawn on him as he understood those words.

Getting back on his feet quickly and braced for what to come, a large figure approaches them, he discerned that tiger head on top of it. He knew it, he faced that thing once before back at the ridge. Just like before, they will be needing some serious firepower for this one alone. The real question here is that, who has the power it takes?

Deciding that he shouldn't waste another second on pointless thought, he quickly dashes toward it and leaped with a materialized flamethrower on his right hand. Lunging towards it and attempt to plunge the flamethrower into its eye socket.

The thing here is that no prey fell for the same trap twice. The Tiger just sidestep just enough to evade him. When Arnold realized it, the Tiger has already prepared its ploy. The thing threw a devastating left hook, straight into his chest.

Both Illya and Larry felt that pain despite not being at the receiving end. And Arnold is going through the worst possible pain that he just felt. It was so much that he could have faint at any time. His helpless body being fling at such a great speed as he bursts through many buildings while raising massive dust clouds just by his sheer speed alone.

Larry can only look back at the massive holes that the Tiger created by punching Arnold. He then looks at the Tiger with complete disgust.

"BASTARD!" Larry screamed as he charged towards the Tiger.

The Tiger reads his movement and adjusted its stance to counteract whatever Larry might intend to do. However, Larry is completely capable of shifting his stance and bodily movement in a quick manner. The Tiger expected him to lunge towards it but what he did is completely different.

When he got closer to it, he made a small jump which fools it to think that he is going to try the same thing as Arnold but then he quickly skids across the ground between him and it. He then quickly slide to its back by the gap between its leg.

"Icicle Stake!" Larry said as he materialized a wooden stake and stab the Tiger through its knee joint with it.

The Tiger quickly tried to turn back but its knee which was working fine a bit second ago now struggling to turn, it could have broken the stake by itself if it weren't for the fact that its knee started to freezing.

"Berserker! Include!" Illya quickly said and that stone sword-axe materialized itself. She aimed at the freezing joint and broke its knee in one quick succession.

The Tiger roared, the knee which it was injured soon broke and leaving it on one foot. Even still the thing still trying to keep its balance and ward off Larry and Illya away.

"You know, despite being a Tiger, it seems awfully weaker than how you described to me," Larry said to Illya.

"You know. You might be right, my brother's Caladbolg could ignore conventional durability but that thing back then just ward off like nothing. But this? Even what seems like basic attacks actually managed to hurt it." Illya speaks to Larry about her doubt.

Larry piecing the information together. In the next moment, his mind suddenly shudders in the realization that his assumption missed a critical part. He has to tell this newly learned information should he wanted to make sure things don't go turn for the worse. Underestimation and overestimation are both lethal and he can't afford that to happen.

Meanwhile, inside a ruined and abandoned house. Arnold lies there, his face was distraught by the great pain he is going through right now. He coughed out blood, breathing is now a massive burden. His ribcage completely shattered, his inside most likely got completely liquified by now.

He is losing grasp of his vision and his consciousness. He wanted somebody to relieve him of this suffering now. He just lay there in a helpless state. He thought he is going to die soon.

That is what he thought until a figure approaches him. It was a distant yet familiar feeling, he tried to clear the cloud in his mind to see clearer and the person in front of him is...

Desmond

Arnold thought it was Alfin but considering the situation that he is in right now. He is desperately needing his help.

"He...lp..." Arnold tried to call for help but it is needless for Desmond approaches him regardless. He quickly injects him a dose of something. Morphine? Adrenaline? Any kind of Anesthetic? That doesn't matter anymore, it did help him gather back his consciousness. Desmond situated Arnold into a sitting position so that he can check his wound better.

"Dear God, what happened to you?" Desmond said as his external check-up basically tells that Arnold got fucked up pretty badly.

Arnold remains silent, he has no word to describe how irrational his decision at that time was. It might just be best to not speak of anything. He then looks at the behind of Desmond, even if it was a long-distance away from where Larry and Illya are fighting, he sees that they are struggling to take down the Tiger due to the fact that there are many Panzers around them trying to take them down.

"Damn it, Desmond. You had something that can help me go back into battle in an instant, right?" Arnold asked the medic in front of him.

"Unfortunately, no. You need proper surgery or there might be permanent damage. Plus, you are in a state of emergency and must not stay in combat." Desmond said to convince Arnold to stay from combat.

Arnold felt helpless, to be a dead weight in a situation like this just stupid to him. He needs to do something right now, even if it is rash.

"Desmond, can you give me the Anesthetic bottle?" Arnold asked the medic.

"Uhm, sure?" Desmond gives the anesthetic bottle even the syringe that sticks on it without even doubting anything.

Arnold then pumps the syringe with anesthetic and then he... stabs Desmond with the said syringe into his thigh. The effect took on in near-instant as Desmond felt it that he can't move his leg at all. Arnold then stands up and then rushes outside.

"I'm sorry to do this to you. But they need me!" Arnold said as he ran outside towards where the Tiger is.

Desmond sits there while watching Arnold running in a distance. Unsurprisingly, Desmond held no grudge at all. He just finds it almost natural for Arnold to do something like this. He then stood up despite his right leg are completely numb.

"I see then... If so then I shall treat you how you should have been in the first place. Proper care and surgery." Desmond said with a smile on his face.

Meanwhile, Arnold is rushing towards where he was left off at full speed. In his right hand is the flamethrower that is firing a stream of relentless flame. He felt extremely painful just to breathe alone but the adrenaline in his blood is pushing himself to beyond his limit.

The Panzers noticed him and they quickly dispatch to his path. They stood there, preparing to open fire at him.

Arnold knows that he needs to do something and not making that same mistake from before. He has no anti-tanking weapon and changing into his Final Conda will most likely cost his precious movement. Those things don't intend to underestimate him and the only way forward to is to move beyond what he is normally capable of.

Charging mana into his flamethrower, increasing the potential output of the weapon. He decided that if he doesn't go beyond now, he won't be able to do anything good in the future. The orange flame that was coming out of the flamethrower started to change it color into a blueish one.

The Panzers opened fire at him, sending a barrage of bullets and shells at him. He makes a single swing of his flamethrower and the azure flame came forth towards the wall of ballistics. A single swing erased the entire ballistic barrage that was aimed at him.

He closes down the distance even more while evading the hailstorm of bullets, swing his flamethrower to make a path if required. Soon, he got closes to those Panzers. He drew his flamethrower like a burning blade, with a single cry, he'll make a decisive breakthrough.

_**"Azure Slash!" **__Arnold let out his cry before drew his flamethrower._

In a single slash, the three Panzers in front of them split into half from their torso. A single decisive slash led him to break through the encirclement.

Not stopping there, he quickly makes his advance towards where the Tiger is. Any Panzer tries to get in his way, he'll give it his Azure Slash that cleanly cut it with a single slash. Like a fiery dance itself, he approaches to where Illya and Larry were, the damn Tiger is still jumping around like a goddamn rabbit despite having one leg short. That thing still fires at both Illya and Larry at any given chance which makes them don't have that much chance to counterattack.

Not that it would apply to him anymore, he has a perfect mean to counterattack. He fell to its trick once and he'll pay the debt back. With full interest. Making one final dash towards it, he prepared to swing his flamethrower again and let out his cry.

**"Azure Slash!"** Arnold let out a cry as he slashes the Tiger with all of the strength he has left.

What happened next is already obvious for all to see. Despite the Tiger's best effort to repel him. The azure flame of his flamethrower ended up erasing any of the ballistics it fires at him. And his Azure Slash completely decimates the Tiger for all of what is left is just the crotch and leg. The remnant of it soon fell to the back and became nothing more than scrap metals.

The clearing of wind signals the conflict has ended, Illya and Larry look at him and tried to process what has just happened. Arnold then knelt to his knee and then collapsed into the ground. It was his price for pushing too much beyond his limit. His vision started to blacken, the silence is deafening, everything aches. In his vision, he sees the two figures approaching him, they're Larry and Illya. That much he knew, then the third figure approaches and seems to talk about something. His vision soon unable to keep up anymore and everything turned into the void.

Whatever it is, he needs more firepower of his own if he wanted to keep up. Perhaps there are still somethings within his memory that will help him. Now, he'll have to enter the void and search the sealed memory of his own.

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**A Glimpse of One's Past  
_Flowers in The Trench_  
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The rain still goes on, when was the last time the sun shined in this place? It was such a distant image that hardly anyone can imagine any more.

Arnold who is driving his motorcycle, on a familiar road yet forgetful. There is a sense of dread instilling the atmosphere right now.

He opened the map with one hand while the other still drive. It is scribbled on with lines that marked for 'British territory'. The lines of defense keep getting shorten more and more. It used to take a few hours to drive to the frontline and now it takes only an hour at worst to get there.

With defeat is getting more imminent through time. Morale is basically on the verge of collapse. Almost every soldier that still remains till this point has no will to fight left. They were rugged by the facade, the false prospect of wealth and adventure. They were thrown into the meat grinder and dying for the "elite" that keeps getting more gluttonous overtime.

Many have thought the idea to mutiny while possible but the only they received is a hail of bullets from the firing squad as they were declared for death sentences. All of this supposed to persuade soldiers from going mutiny but only make the already worsening morale became even worse.

People don't even know what they are even fighting for... They don't know where their future is going to head for... It was a dark fate much like the clouds hanging above him.

He reached the 'frontline' which were just hastily built trenches that are simply passable for combat. Soldiers having spoilt bread for ration for even farmers got drafted and died. His ration isn't any better at all. It is just a piece of bread, still decent enough but not fulfilling at all. He then proceeds to hide the motorcycle in the closest bush he could find. He just hopes that there won't be a misfortunate artillery shell landing on it.

He entered the closest trench and for the first time in a while, things have truly gone worse than he could think. He sees even youngsters that they were recently drafted in shivering in fear, he sees the soldiers who were so battle-scarred by the war that they lost all of their conscience when it involves killing. They just stood there, lifelessly as if they will disappear after the war for they have done too much sin to ever found redemption anymore.

The rain definitely didn't help the situation in the slightest, they don't know what to come nor they actually know anything beyond the few first seconds ahead of them. They just wanted to live, even if it is by a margin of seconds.

He knew what he needed to do, to get into the communication quarter so that he can personally deliver the intelligence to the headquarter. That is just his only job, for now.

While he is walking through the trench, he felt somebody is staring at him. Surprisingly enough for him, it wasn't just a person, it was everybody who was presented. They looked at him with disgust, almost like they personally wanted him to die.

He can't understand it at all. What had he exactly done to them to earn such a disgusting gaze like that? He was just fulfilling his duty like how he was supposed to. That is just what his job really is. So then, why?

Something within his gut ached, liked being foretold of something bad is going to happen. These feelings, he knew it well. He then quickly tried to get to the communication quarter as fast he could. 600 meters according to the intel he received, to him, felt as long as running across the whole world. This is a fight against the clock and any seconds that isn't wasted will help him tremendously.

The alarm went off, the soldiers quickly dispatch to their positions. It was just how Arnold anticipated, something is coming and it will be relentless. The machine guns went off towards the distance. Arnold doesn't intend to peek out for there is always the risk of dying just for peeking alone.

But something doesn't feel right at all. The soldiers are panicking as if the whole world is going to end. The sounds of clanging went from a distance away from the trench. Arnold realized that the sounds that are being made is unusual and decided to peek out to confirm his suspicion.

He now realized why the soldiers are panicking in the first place. Those things that are charging toward them are moving metal boxes with machine guns and cannons protruding out of them. The bullets that impact on it are just bounced off like nothing. Suddenly, the thing fired off a shot from the cannon by its side. He looked at its trajectory and the next moment, the machine gun nest 10 meters next to him is gone. And the arm of the guy who was operating the machine gun landed right by him.

Swallowed his own breath, realizing the emergence of the situation. He realized that he needs to do this quickly now or he'll be annihilated without a single chance to counterattack. Hasting his movement, prepare to draw his Artillery Luger. He makes his move toward the communication quarter, this will be one grueling fight with no room for mistake.

The enemy soldiers came flood into the trench, the recruits completely helpless as they became fodder for the enemy's firing. The hardened soldiers professionally counterattack in order to prevent more casualty from their side. With that metal monstrosity came charging at them, the whole situation in his side is like a ton held by a hair thread.

Standing by a blind corner, he saw an ally soldier run pass him and got shot down with a hail bullet. He felt bad for using his corpse as a shield but how can the dead become more dead?

Grabbing his corpse and draw his pistol. He fired his gun at the opposing soldiers, one thing though is that he overestimated the corpse's protective ability against a .303 bullet. The bullets flew pass through the corpse and grazed him. He realized that it might not be a good idea anymore. He dropped the corpse and then keep going happy trigger on the enemy soldiers until all of them fell into the ground.

After he confirmed that there is no one near him anymore, he let out a sigh as he winced in pain from the grazed wounds that he received. Never again...

Assessing the situation so far, he decided that he'll need to go to the infirmary or find a close-by medic before he goes to the comm quarter. He'll never reach there in a state like this.

He keeps moving on despite the agonizing pain on his waist, he hopes that he'll find a familiar face but considering the war, there isn't much hope for that in the first place.

The artillery bombardments went on the trenches, his ears keep ringing like hell from being bombarded with so many loud noises, he swears that he'll go deaf at the end of this war. If he even made to the end that is. The ground keeps shaking like being torn apart, the rain and the thunder didn't make any of this easier at all.

The pain is sickening to him, the screams, chaos, madness. It is like being stuck in hell but worse. Hell is hell and war is war but war is far worse because there aren't any innocent in hell.

He tried to pick up his pace towards the infirmary. There has to be something that he can use but should the worst come to worst. He'll put everything he has to the communication quarter.

Entering the infirmary, it was suspiciously dark with no lighting at all. He started to fear that something is hidden in the dark and that thing would kill him in an instant if he let his guard down. A stench of death emanating the air, if it weren't for the war, he wouldn't have found this too normal but it felt like way too recent.

Feeling for any movement, presences, whatever it is, this sense of unremovable dread swelling in him keeps screaming as loud as possible. His heart is beating with a speed like a machine gun to the point he can hear it himself.

His pupil shrunk, his body preemptively evades an attack. The perpetrator then suddenly lunges at him again and pin him against the ground.

Being pinned down, he looked at the attacker right in the face which he tried to make out the most with the little lighting he has right now. Time slowed down, his mind has overdriven itself to desperately find any clue to break through the situation right now. The enemy is wearing a gas mask and a helmet. That much he can confirm. Although what unsettles him here is that the mask is stained with blood, and it was fresh at that.

Then he sees a flash above him, whatever it is, he needs to get out, now. Pulling his right foot in and kick that person right off his body. It might have been a powerful one for the large noise created when that person collided with whatever is there in the dark.

Gathering himself back at his feet. He tried to find his Luger only to realize that he dropped it when he got pinned down. Wherever it is, he can't find it in a dark place like this. The masked man stood up again and this time the lighting from the entrance shows the entire person. The entire body stained by blood, the gas mask and helmet stained in blood and the most important are, the spiked club that person is wielding. The kind that one would hate to be at the receiving end.

There is no doubt about it anymore, the dreaded unit that would instill fear in any soldier that would face it. He did hear about this kind of soldier about a few times mostly as rumors but to face this head-on is beyond any soldier's worst fear. The trench raider. Savage. Brutal. Unforgiving. And most importantly, merciless.

Arnold started to panic and he tried to find anything that he could use as a weapon, the raider menacingly approaches him with the club that is dripping with blood. Arnold felt something and quickly swung just as the trench raider lunged at him again with the club. By some stroke of luck, he managed to deflect the raider's strike. He takes a look at what he used and realized that he just used a chair's foot to deflect it. Not that he has any better options in the beginning.

The raider attempted another strike as it lunged towards him again. Arnold swung the chair's foot to deflect the strike again but just how much does a broken stool's foot can even stand up to a weapon specifically made to kill as brutally as possible? Right after he deflected the strike again, the chair's foot snapped into half. Arnold suddenly panicked again when he realized the only weapon he has right now just broke again.

Seeing him completely defenseless, the raider leaped towards him to ensure the killing blow. Arnold's reflexes quickly and jumped to the side.

The raider decided to finish this charade quickly and draw out a revolver of sorts. Arnold can't tell what kind of revolver but he knew that he must not be at the receiving end of it or he'll might as well say goodbye to himself.

Whether by reflex or instinct alone, his body moved by itself just literally when the raider pulled the trigger. Arnold's body leaped for to the side again as the bullet that was fired impacted on something and caused an explosion.

"Gah! Did he accidentally fire at a fuel canister?!" Arnold thought as he looked at where the explosion occurred while picking himself back up.

The raider probably didn't expect to hit a fuel canister and thus covered the eyes at that moment. Arnold took advantage of the situation and used the dim-lit fire to look for anything that he could use as a weapon. And just as what he wanted, a rifle with its bayonet placed nearby the wall nearby where the explosion occurred. Grabbing it as soon as he can, he prepared to open fire right on the raider. The raider realized that Arnold is going to grab that rifle and quickly tried to smash his head off with the spiked club.

Arnold pulled the trigger and nothing come off it, he evaded the incoming attack and pulled the bolt back to check, he then realized, it was empty. Of course, this is an infirmary, people would obviously unload the ammo to prevent accidental firing. Blocking the incoming attack with the rifle. The spreading fire from the explosion is still going and slightly lighting up the room more and more. The raider still swinging the club like a madman at him with no end to it, the attack style is simple yet effective which leaving Arnold doesn't have much room to counterattack at all.

Decided that he can't spend more his time being defensive, he looked around the room for anything to use as a weapon or there might be some loose bullets around. The raider about to send an overhead blow which would have most likely a killing blow to Arnold, Arnold quickly evaded and grabbed the closest thing to him and instinctively swung it at the raider's face.

The sounds of something shattered ensue. When Arnold looked at what he grabbed, he realized that he used a bottle of liquor and smashed the raider's face with it. The enemy is holding its face from the pain that is coursing. Right at that moment, Arnold grabbed a burning piece of cloth from the fire and used it to rub the raider right in the face. The flame spread and making the raider started to panic, Arnold used that precious time he gained to search for any ammo and by some stroke of luck he has, he found a single rifle round lying on the table near where he stands.

Loading that round in, he aimed it at the raider who just extinguishes the flame recently. With a stern voice, Arnold will end this conflict for once and for all.

"Repent for your sins, in Hell..." Arnold said as he pulled the trigger.

In a swift moment, the raider fell to the back with blood guzzling through the back of the head. Soon, it is just a lifeless corpse that lies on the floor. Arnold let out a sigh of relief for the fact that he made it out but the flame here will engulf everything in this infirmary soon enough. The light is also bright enough to illuminate the room.

But, perhaps, something is better to be left in the dark. When he looked around the room, he realized why the stench of death is so potent here. All of the patients here, they got their head smashed to death, blood is splattered everywhere, some of them have their mouth gasping, as if in their futile effort to beg for mercy but received only death instead.

And worse, he found the medic who was tending to the patients having his head was bashed to the point the brain was revealed, it was a sickening sight that he wanted to instinctively throw up but refused to nonetheless. He carefully extracts the medical bag and checked the content inside it. Thankfully that none of the contents were harmed. He has also found his Artillery Luger which got dropped beneath a bed. It is no wonder why he can't find it until now. He decided to search around the infirmary for a bit before getting out of here.

He first checked the raider's content first. What he got first is the revolver, the bullet it is chambered in is quite large compared to the pistol he uses. He can safely assume that it is a magnum. He decided to check around with the magnum and soon learned how to reload it. After that, he looted all of the ammo along with it. He then found a device that was lying on the table next to the dead medic. He pressed the button on it and suddenly flashes with light. A light that is brighter than the flame behind him.

"So this is the rumored flashlight then. To see its light like this, it is definitely will be useful even if not now." Arnold said as he takes it from the table.

After he bandaged the wound and injected some anesthetic, he is definitely in better condition than before. He made it out of the infirmary which soon to be engulfed in fire. And now, he has to get there as soon as he can to compensate for the lost amount of time.

Running alongside the trench, the path started to get more treacherous. He knew that artillery strikes intend to cause massive damage to the land that it altered in such hideous ways but this is just having no words adequate enough. It is mud and everywhere he could see. The sounds of roaring steel approaching make things even worse.

Pillars of smoke can be seen from a distance, even with ceaseless rain of artillery shells mix with raindrops turn any crater into a sinkhole of mud that would kill any misfortunate enough soldier should they fell into it. It is like a one-way gate to hell, once you fell into it, you forfeit any chance left to live.

Corpses are everywhere, as they were mixing with the mud and blood. Vision keeps decline as the rain kept getting worse. The terrain is getting steeper the more he progresses into, it is understandable but this is getting way too out of hand for him.

And for the first time in so long, he found an ally soldier who is moving through the trench, like him. He tried to strike a conversation with him but the man completely ignored him, like he didn't exist at all. Based on the appearance, it seems that he is a Kaiser. One can't mistake that spike on the helmet.

The man soon charged forward, but then the wooden barrier on the side suddenly collapsed and he got shot repeatedly until he fell into the ground and blood drips out of him. The barrage then ceased, Arnold decided to peek out and he can only see the silhouette of the enemy. But he can tell that whatever it is used is a machine gun and an infantry-carriable one at that.

It also baffles him that not all of the trenches are built into the ground but also makeshift with wooden fences in a few sections. How exactly can a plank of wood withstand getting hit by multiple rifle rounds repeatedly?! Now he has to consider that fact wherever he goes in this place.

Taking his chance while they still reloading, he dashed through. He then started to see even more corpses strewn around the places, even the blood is fresh. The screams and death throes, gunfires are all over the place. It is like he has entered a slaughterhouse where death is everywhere.

And when he thought things couldn't go any worse, he has been proven wrong instantly in the next second. He came into a stop as he looked at it with a faraway look. Corpses, piled up to mountain. Blood, overflown like a waterfall. This filthy sight can't ever be cleansed no matter how hard the rain is, no matter how much time may pass.

Arnold fell to his knee, seeing the mountain of corpses in front of him. He heard the screams, the cry, everything but none of this has ever amounted to this very image in front of him. This is what all of those lives ever amounted to?

"Help... Somebody... help..." A helpless voice can be heard from somewhere amid this madness.

Arnold quickly snaps out of it and tried to find the source of the voice, he then realized that familiar voice from before. The voice from the earliest memory of his. Arnold looked around for a bit and then realized where the voice comes from.

"Hans! Where are you!?" Arnold tried to draw attention as he raised his voice to break through the madness around him.

"I'm... here...Help..." The voice said back to him weakly.

Arnold detected the sources and realized where it is, right at the feet of the mountain of corpses is where Hans is. Being stuck underneath them and unable to pull himself out. Arnold quickly reaches for him, grabbing his left hand and slowly pulled himself of those corpses. He looked to the side and sees a bunch of British soldiers preparing their machine guns to fire at everyone in this direction. He quickly pulled faster in order to prevent both of them from going to die.

Within a nick of time, he managed to pull Hans back to the safe place and the next second, the barrage of bullets flew past the ground in front of the mountain of corpses. If that was the only thing then it would have been fine. If it weren't for the fact that there are other soldiers who got caught in the firing. Arnold winced in grimaces as their screams filled the atmosphere.

And as if it weren't going to end with that alone. An artillery shell flies towards the mountain of corpses and what happened next is too grotesque for any word in human language to ever describe properly. Body parts, internal organs, bones, anything that used to be a part of a normal human body now turned into thousands of crimson fragments. It was like a rain of blood, flying towards anything that was nearby it.

Arnold can only look, whether by shock or despair or anything. What can be felt to him at that time... was emptiness.

_**As the rain of blood unveils my crimson cloak**_

Arnold said silently by himself, seeing it unfolding in front of his eyes.

And after for a few minutes, the path ahead of them is cleared. The fragments of those used-to-be corpses are strewn around into a pile that can still block the barrage of bullets for a short amount of time.

Hans picked himself up, seeing the old friend that he would never think of himself to meet again.

"Thanks... For saving me, I thought I would just join with that mountain of corpses but you saved me, I can't ever repay that for you." Hans said to Arnold himself.

For the first time, Arnold goes out of his way to save someone by himself. There is no doubt that he is a person that anyone can count on the darkest of time.

"Yeah..." Arnold said before he steels his conviction again to prepare for what to come.

Both the two of them running forward and climbed the steep and bloodstained ground in front of them, the roaring steel can still be heard from the distance but one can't shake off the feeling of being forced to go up against it.

"Damn it, who the hell placed all of this barb wires here?! This is inside of a trench, not the battlefield!" Arnold said as the path ahead of them got blocked by an array of barb wires in front of them. They can't climb out of the trench should they wish to be riddled with bullets before they can realize what happened.

"They probably got knocked in here by those mobile pillboxes or being slide in due to the slippery mud. Either way, we don't have much choice left. I have the barb wire cutter but this is going to take a while. You watch the flank and I'll focus on the barb wires, OK?" Hans said as he takes out the cutter from his waist belt.

Arnold looked back and checked the terrain, both of them are on the higher ground and at the back is the downhill where the corpses were strewn around. Anyone who has chosen this place as a machine gun emplacement is either a genius or a madman, or both.

Suddenly, he noticed signs of enemy soldiers' movement towards this area.

"Oh no, this is bad, I have to do something or they will kill both of us." Arnold thought as he tried to find any way to resolve the predicament they just came in.

An explosion went by near his position. Not close enough to harm but enough to shook the ground anyway. Something fell nearby him and got his attention.

"Wah? What's this..." Arnold thought as he examined the gun that fell near him.

Hans turned back and seems to know what it is.

"It's the MG08/15, where did you get that from?" Hans asked as he wanted to know how Arnold obtain it.

Arnold probably misses it due to how chaotic this battlefield is, he most likely didn't even notice its previous operator died clinging to it nearby him. Whatever happened, he has a weapon suitable for the next firefight.

He checked the ammo box that was connected to the gun, still full of ammo, most likely not fired a single round. He then thought about what he should be used as a cover only to realize that he has almost nothing to use as a cover, there isn't a single sandbag near him at all. He can't go prone without having the risk of somebody snipes him from a distance. He has to improvise something or else.

And then a thought sparked, maybe he can use the dead bodies as a wall. Arnold quickly shut that thought off as soon as he can. He can't keep disregarding his fallen allies like this but there isn't any other choice left. The sounds of oncoming onslaught about to approach, Arnold decided to screw it and took the most intact dead bodies and piling them up like a wall. If one can't block those rifle bullets then 4 would do the trick.

And as a safety measure, he asked Hans.

"Hans, can you hand me some of those cut barb wires?" Arnold asked his friend who has just done about a quarter of his job.

"Okay but why?" Hans asked.

"Just do it!" Arnold said as he carefully took the barb wires and place it in front of the wall of corpses.

The footsteps keep getting closer, Arnold prepared to pull the trigger. Whatever happens, happens.

The first soldier entered the line of sight and quickly pulled the trigger at Arnold. Arnold ducked and quickly returned fire with his MG. The man who initiated combat got shot multiple times in the torso and fell to the ground. Other soldiers started to notice him and tried to climb the hill as fast as they can while returning fire. Arnold's only option is to return fire at them.

Bullet casings flying out as he held it. Giving them the taste of their medicine, the opposing soldiers unable to find any cover can only face death as their absolution. Lifeless bodies piling up on each other, time passing away like blood overflowing on this tainted hillside.

A soldier managed to reach to the top, aiming his rifle at Arnold with an intention to pay the retribution. However, one wouldn't exactly have the spirit left after seeing so many died while reaching here at the cost of others. Arnold drew the magnum revolver at shoot right squarely at the head of the soldier who reached the top. The man soon fell and joined the rank of those dying.

The MG soon ceased firing, it has spent its last ammo. Arnold then looked at the sight in front of him. The aftermath, that same mountain of corpses appeared in front of him, the only difference here is that he is at the top of it. That same stench of death, that same overflowing blood, he then started to look at his hand, hallucinating blood on it. He started to shake uncontrollably as he held his head from the throbbing pain.

He started to realize that he got stuck in this cycle of destruction, somebody else is going to repeat this. He started to feel that he is going mad right now.

"You there! I cut all of the barb wires! We need to move on now!" Hans said to Arnold.

Arnold still kneeling there, holding his head. He felt that he is going mad soon. His friend Hans seeing it decided to not stand still anymore and gave him a smack on his head.

"Snap out of it already! You still have the entire life to live! It is 'kill or be killed', we don't have any better choice!" Hans tries to convince Arnold that he is not wrong for shooting those soldiers.

"Please, do not cry until it is truly over. Weep those tears away and only when you find it truly over would you cry, get it? Now, we have to go." Hans said to Arnold so that he can calm him down.

Arnold weeps his tears away, he picked himself up on his two feet. After that, Arnold steels his conviction so that he won't be too weak next time around. He can't show weakness in a time like this.

The sound of roaring steel approaches, Arnold turned around and see that moving metal beast is heading towards him. The thing fires its cannon and blows the wall of corpses in one fell swoop. Arnold realized the emergence of the situation and quickly get on to action.

"We have to go now!" Arnold said to Hans as he runs as fast as he can.

Both of them make their last stretch toward the communication quarter hoping that there may still a bastion of hope left but perhaps, they are too hopeful in the end.

When they finally make it there, the only thing that greeted them was the dead silence of the place, except for the ceaseless rain stretching till eternity. He can discern the dead allies of his, basing from their attires. He can tell that the place must have been raided by a group of 30 or more since this amount of dead bodies here is just obscene.

Entering the quarter, Arnold raised his gun, preparing for potential ambushes. He made it through the entrance and there is no ambush yet. He grabs the flashlight that he carried with and illuminates the room with it. After seeing what really is, he sighed in relief for it is the officer that helped him from before, he actually made it here.

Arnold took a step forward then stumbled, he walked into a dead body and then suddenly his mind turned for the worst.

"So you made it here... You know, seeing you for my last moment isn't too bad of a thing I guess?" The officer sitting behind the desk said to him with a smile he tried to crack.

The officer then proceeds to turn the oil lamp on, the light illuminated the whole room clearly and that is also when Arnold shuddered in panic as he realized what has just happened here.

"You see, we and other 20 people here got raided by a group of 45 of them. Suddenly. We tried our best to hold all of them back and we did it. Although pretty much everyone is dead and I am on my last leg." The officer smiled at him as he coughed out blood.

Arnold realized that the officer got shot in the stomach with a rifle round. No, scratch that, he got shot with a shotgun shell!

"Dear lord! We need to get you treated, now!" Arnold said as he tried to get the medical supplies from his side bag.

"No... Don't even try, there is no hope left for this wound of mine. And you know what I wanted to speak about? My hometown, those French, British, whatever... They scorched the whole town into ashes, with everyone in it. I tried my damn hardest to protect my country and this is how I got repaid. Ironic, right?" The officer said with a wry smile on his face.

Both Arnold and Hans can only watch in silent, they honestly have no word to describe the turmoil of emotions that is residing in them.

"By the way, those metal mobile 'monsters' that you saw outside? We call them 'tank'. Our espionage got the intel of those new 'water tanks' and we assumed that they are just new carriable water containers that would help them in supply logistics. And you see how it got us right now?!" The officer said as the sounds of hysterical can be more easily traced.

Arnold and Hans are watching a man getting more broken time by time, getting more deranged. They wish they could help with whatever going through his mind right now but their hands are as good as tied.

"And you know!? This isn't even the first time that we got attacked with those tanks! Our first contact with it was a complete disaster. Everyone got stump and don't know what to do about it at all. It was a complete butchery, slaughter, only a few of us survived and our report basically demanded a new solution to be created. We have reversed bullets then K bullets and then a weapon made solely to fight against those-" The officer ranted on and on.

Arnold and Hans' eye flashed when the officer said they have a weapon to fight those. But where can they find it?! They decided that they should listen more to him.

"I... I'm tired... I just wanted this madness to end... I don't want to live in this cruel world anymore... I... Thank you for staying by my side for this long... This is my last gift, they can help you tremendously, that I can assure you with everything in this life of mine. You with the mustache, can you step forward to me?" The officer said as tiredness started to overtake him.

Arnold steps forward to him, he looks at the officer intently as the officer gives him a two of something.

"These... These two things right here are the drum mags for the Artillery Luger you are using... The centerpiece and final requirement, they are what would complete the set that you were having... The enhanced capacity will boost its close-quarter combat ability greatly... Don't worry... I have already filled them with ammo... And here is the intel too... I fought tooth and nail for it..." The officer said with reassurance to Arnold.

Arnold takes the drum mags and put them carefully in his waist belt. He shall cherish it the most he could.

"And you, Hans. The anti-tank rifle is in the armory. 50 meters in the west. The crate that contains it is the largest one available. Hardlocked to prevet force breeching. The key is in my hand right now, take it and go." The officer said as he gives the key to Hans.

"And I just wanted to say something to you, personally... Thanks... for everything..." The officer lets out his last words before he fell to his eternal slumber.

Arnold wanted to cry but remembering what his friend said. No crying until the end. He decided to push those tears away and exit the comm with conviction along with his friend. He turned his head back toward the officer who seems so peaceful right now, perhaps for one final goodbye.

"Thank you..." Arnold whispered as he turns away and exits the room.

"So what do we do now..." Hans said as he felt uncertain of what to do, he doesn't know what he has to exactly do anymore.

Arnold reloads the Artillery Luger with the drum mag he received from the officer. He then said sternly.

"We live for another day. Didn't the officer tell us to fight back with all we had? If so then why did he give you the key to armory?" Arnold said to Hans.

Hans suddenly realized what Arnold meant. If it weren't for the two together, both of them would have most likely been broken by now. Brothers in arms, there is nothing more fitting in a time like this.

"Then you know where to go, aren't you?" Arnold asked Hans again.

Without needing to answer, Hans runs first towards where he would believe to be where the armory is. Arnold simply follows him as there is no other choice remain.

Soon, they found a tunnel with a sign 'Armory' placed next to the entrance. They enter the place while prepared their weapons, in case of any potential ambush. Surprisingly enough, there isn't a single soul here, one would have thought that they would have taken over the place first before anything else. But considering how things go, they probably shouldn't put too much thought on why or anything that shouldn't be this way since it makes no sense.

Once they entered far enough, they encountered a wooden door, held by a single lock. If the enemy was here by now. They would have breached the door with an explosive. If this is the case, the enemy wasn't here yet. Hans quickly unlocks the door with the key that he was received, at least they won't make any noise.

The door soon sprung open, only to reveal that the armory is mostly empty, except for a few rifles that are still on the racks. A few ammo boxes that are placed on the shelf. Some artillery shells here and there. It is quite disappointing and one could find it understandable that they would lock the whole place up. Not to them though that they knew something useful is being stashed here.

"Hans, you take some spare ammunition. I'll go find the anti-tank rifle that our deceased officer mentioned." Arnold said to Hans.

Hans nodded and soon go to restock his ammunition. Arnold lifts the crates out of the way and searches for the biggest one. It must be something special since the officer emphasized on it by a lot.

Soon enough, he decided to open the crates one by one when he organized all of them on the floor and his suspicion is confirmed when he opened the biggest one he found. He reads the name engraved on the lid and it said "Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr". He opened it and learned what it is in which he found completely unamused.

"Of course... Of fucking course..." Arnold said as he gazed unamusedly on the anti-tank rifle he found. An oversized rifle with a pistol grip, accompanied with oversized bullets. But if the officer said this is their best shot at surviving then they would heed it no matter what.

He picks the gun up and oh boy, it is quite heavy that he finds it difficult to lug it around without being encumbered. He noticed that it has a carrying belt which would make it less awkward to carry around and so he decided to use it. He then picks up as much ammo of the weapon as he can, what good does a gun have without its ammo?

"Uhm? I think somebody is coming here!" Hans said to Arnold as he noticed the sounds of footsteps.

Arnold then quickly reacts as fast as he could. He doesn't know what to exactly do since they have half a minute at best. He then proceeds to knock the metal shelf out and pushes it towards the door and block the way. It is a temporary method that would buy them a minute as best.

"What do we do now!?" Hans started to panic as they were forced to seal off the entrance.

Arnold then looks around for anything that would help him then he looked at the small window near the ceiling. There is light came out of it. Arnold then presumes that it is would lead to outside. But that window would fit no one at all. Arnold then looks at the crates he forced open and one of them is a crate of dynamites with a detonator in it.

An idea flashed in his mind, this is their last chance to escape this place alive. Grabbing as much as dynamites as he can and placed them on the wall. He decided to keep some spare one with him in case the situation demands. Connected the detonator, both Hans and Arnold hid behind the crates that they restacked while the entrance blockade is going to fall apart soon.

Arnold has only one chance he'll have to make it count. Strike two birds with one stone, that is his crucial objective. If he fails, it will be a dire consequence for both him and Hans.

The entrance blockade blew up, the breeching team started to flood in to search for anyone. Arnold then activated the detonator when the chance to strike came.

An explosion went off, with the only thing that remains is the deafening sound of the aftermath. Both Hans and Arnold looked outside and both of them confirmed that there is no survivor. Especially when they were so close to the blast that the only thing that remains is the massive splatter of blood and gore. Arnold's suspicion is also confirmed as the hole on the wall indeed leads to the outside.

"Do they intended to kill everyone here?! All of these, they went all this way just to kill us?!" Hans said as he tried to clear his head from the ringing created by the blast.

Arnold stands up and pulls Hans along with. They made it this far, they passed through many challenges. They can't afford to die, not at a time like this! Both of them rushes out of the armory through the new path that they created.

The returning path is far more treacherous than before, the road is slippery, mud sinkholes are everywhere. At this point, they might as well assume that everyone who was stationed in the frontline is dead. They don't even hear anything similar to conflict anymore. These whole trenches are as good as taken by the enemy.

"Ugh... How can we even return anymore? They probably don't even have any more reinforcement to fight back..." Hans said as tiredness started to seep into him.

Arnold can't blame him for being like this. Both of them went through way too much for any soldier to handle. The fact that they're still alive is beyond any miracle.

Arnold keeps moving forward but he felt uneasy, like feeling that something is following him and that isn't Hans at all. It is like being watched by someone who is extremely scrutinizing. He wanted to shake that feeling off but the more he goes further, the trench started to ascend higher into the ground. At this pace, the trench wall might only be as high as his waist. And that is a fatal design in itself.

"Hans, stay down. Give me that helmet." Arnold said to Hans as he crouches down.

Hans just simply comply with Arnold by giving him the helmet of the closest dead soldier. It is the helmet of a Kaiser, it should be as convincing enough. Arnold then puts it on the bayonet of the rifle he brought along this far and then he moves slowly while letting the helmet act like a decoy.

"What are you doing?" Hans asked as he doesn't know what Arnold is intending.

"Better be safe than sorry... It just that, both of us might die by some unforeseen enemy." Arnold said to Hans.

Hans seems to get what Arnold is alluding to and he decided to follow whatever Arnold told him to do. If any of them is alone. They would be dead long ago.

Arnold keeps moving while the decoy started to peek out to the range above the trench. In the next moment, a loud noise followed by the helmet flies off the bayoneted rifle and Arnold can tell what made it happen. Sniper... They are hunting for any unaware survivor and they would hunt them like prey. Arnold's premonition was correct and it is the time to deal with them, now.

"Hans, can you distract them again? I'm really sorry but there's no choice left." Arnold said to Hans.

Hans doesn't even felt obligated, it just almost a necessity to do anything necessary even if risky. Action is far more beneficial than standing still.

Hans crawls toward another corpse and picked the helmet from the said corpse. Grabbing the knife that was stuck in it, he placed the helmet on it to act as a decoy again. All he can hope that the sniper would fall for the same trick again. Arnold meanwhile prepared to use the T-Gewehr and loading the bullet into the gun. Due to him not having any of the uniform and only a grayed outfit. He completely melds into the background almost naturally without any intervention.

He heard the sound of gunfire in a next instant, Hans signals him that the sniper took the bait. Arnold managed to see the muzzle flash and he can tell where the sniper is. And now, he prepares to counterattack with this anti-tank rifle. Overkill? Perhaps, but he ain't giving any fuck left for those sneaky shits.

And he pulled the trigger and the recoil was so tremendous that it literally left him breathless. The sound is so loud that he swore anyone a good distance away can still hear it. But he can swear that his aim was infallible since there is literally nothing followed up at all. If anything, that sniper's head is probably gone.

"You alright? It looks like you got hurt pretty badly." Hans asked Arnold if anything is wrong.

"No... But we still have to move on. No crying till the end." Arnold replied as he picked himself up.

Both of them then proceed to move out. The end is in sight, just that whether or not they can still weather it. The path is slowly sinking and they started to get really exhausted but they can't give up now after this long.

Arnold suddenly became sober, he heard that sound, the sound of roaring steel. Why is it there, right at his last hope of escaping? Arnold didn't want to face it, even if he has the means to. An extremely large drawback of a single chance to take down. But he has no way to avoid this fight at all, it was an inevitability. His motorcycle is hiding there he can't get there without being spotted.

There is only one choice left, Arnold if lucky enough will land a preemptive strike that will cripple the whole tank before he actually encounters it but that will alert other soldiers.

"Forget about it, what's the point of going stealthy if it means to stand still and do nothing!" Arnold said as he quickly grabs the sandbags that were close by and prepare the gun to fire.

"Wah... What are you doing?!" Hans surprised about Arnold's intention to act rashly in a time like this.

Before Hans can stop Arnold from doing it, Arnold has already pulled the trigger, the bullet moves with tremendous power behind it, enough to pierce through the armor of the enemy tank. A loud blast created from the penetration of the bullet through tank hull soon followed. Unfortunately, though, soldiers have to be specifically trained with the T-Gewehr to actually take down tank effectively. Arnold whose experience with it consists of merely two shots and he is in great pain for not using it properly, doesn't have much hope of taking it down.

"I think you only make its operators more pissed..." Hans said as the tank started to move.

The tank proceeds to fire its machine gun at both of them. Both Arnold and Hans were forced to stay down as the hail of bullets came to approach them.

"Thanks for nothing!" Hans said to Arnold as he is holding his head down.

Arnold knows it was his fault that thing got worse like this but since he is knee-deep in this mess, might as well go full-blown already. He reloaded his T-Gewehr again and asked his friend Hans.

"Hans, you have a lighter or something?" Arnold asked as loud as he could to break through the sounds of bullets flying past them.

"There, you better solving this shit or else." Hans begrudgingly giving his lighter to Arnold.

Arnold then uses the lighter to ignite the bundle of dynamite. He then throws it to the tank with all he has. If it not going to damage it, then it will create a smokescreen so that he can have the chance to return fire.

The dynamite hit the front of the tank and exploded, blinded it with the cloud of dust created in the aftermath. The thing must have done some damage since the explosion seems to be large enough. Arnold then picks his chance again and fired the anti-tank rifle, this time at the machine gun. The previous shot was just simply at the tank, with no clearance of what he should attack first. Now, he knows his priority and takes down the machine gun before all else.

The bullet bursts through the machine gun hatch and destroyed the gun first. The firing ceased and Arnold and Hans quickly getting onto their pace before the tank can do anything else.

Pulling the bolt, reload, repeat. Arnold this time fires at the engine at the back to disable it from moving again. Which soon ignite the engine on fire, the crew inside quickly tried to abandon the tank as soon as they can. The first operator that got out of the tank tried to shoot him with a pistol in which Arnold quickly return fire back with his fully modified Artillery Luger.

The soldier who opened the hatch died before he can even return a single shot. Arnold then ignites the last bundle of dynamite and throw it through the hatch. He then picks Hans and runs away as fast as he could from the tank. Soon afterward, the tank exploded into nothing more but a burning heap of scraps.

Both of them avoided death narrowly, that is the best outcome they could ask for. Although, they shouldn't consider a tank as the whole invading force for they are about to face another group of enemy soldiers.

All of them are looking at the two, aiming their guns and will unhesitantly pull the trigger if any of the two do anything. Arnold and Hans already stand up, looking at their surroundings to realize that both of them got surrounded. Both of them won't make out of this alive no matter how good they are.

"So this is our end, huh?" Hans said to Arnold.

"Yeah... None of us have what it takes to breakthrough and I doubt that they will take prisoners after what we did." Arnold said to Hans.

So both of them stand there, waiting for would possibly their deaths. It is a good journey but all tales would have to reach its end.

But... It is not going to end right now.

A soldier suddenly fell to the ground, his fellow allies looked at him saw a bullet hole in the forehead. Arnold and Hans didn't do anything at all. They didn't even draw their weapons. And then suddenly the scream in pain started to be heard around more as confusion spread around the encirclement.

Arnold and Hans don't know what is going on but it must have been the reinforcement. And one hell of reinforcement like that. Soon, the reinforcement personnel come and open fire on the enemy soldier. They are fast, agile, and the weapon they are using seems to be a completely new model at that. Did some officers create this battalion of elite or something?

Soon, the enemy soldiers quickly retreated from the sudden appearance of these elites. Those elite soldiers keep pursuing them as they keep running until their figures can't be seen anymore.

Some remained to make sure the area was secured, the medics have also arrived as it seems if the red cross on their armbands isn't lying.

"Thank god..." Hans said as he fell to the ground from the exhaustion. All of this did a massive toll on his spirit and it is a miracle that he managed to survive this long.

Arnold did the same too, he isn't any supernatural that works ceaselessly and so he fainted from exhaustion but at least he is still alive. He heard the distant voice of the elites telling the medics tried to treat them as soon as they could. And soon, he returned to the void, completely disconnected from that memory.

And so another fragment of memory he managed to make through. Now, it is just his perfect time to utilize his newfound power.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Burning Conviction**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

Arnold wakes up in cold sweat, all of his memory were extremely vivid to the point he felt livid by it. Even things in the dream that felt so real that it hurts physically.

"Hey, you finally awake. You were basically on near-death that time but you got the rest that you needed. You can return to combat should you wish for." Desmond said to him.

Arnold tried to pull himself up, he felt unable to balance properly on his two feet but he will try to fix it as soon as he can.

"Wait, where's everyone else?" Arnold asked as he remembers that there were more people.

"Oh, they are out there fighting. But it is literally been 8 hours of continuous fighting without any stop so far. Our kill toll has already surpassed a hundred and it still doesn't stop at all." Desmond said as he looks out of the window.

Arnold stood there watching, he knew that his newfound memory would have to be of use for something and so he turned back for that armory. The armory of that fateful time, locked and forgotten.

His mind wanders, his vision turned white as his consciousness return to it. He soon found himself in that armory with the differences being that they are more stocked up than before. He checked the journal on his desk and see it is considerably filled up more than before but there is still a large blank spot in it. He has also noticed the magnum revolver also placed on the desk itself.

He noticed that the crates stood near the boxes of grenades that didn't exist before. He opened it and surprise, it was filled to the brim with bundles of dynamites. Even the detonator and lighter are in there for detonating it. Then he noticed the machine gun, the MG08/15 sitting on top of a crate with many of its ammo boxes sitting near it.

Then his sight turned onto the massive rifle, hanging on the wall. The T-Gewehr, the first anti-tank rifle. It is still intimidating until now, even if phased out long from this world. Its kicks are nothing short of a gut punch that would push your soul away if used repeatedly. Hell, his entire arm and shoulder might fly away he used it in a non-prone position.

After he has done checking the armory himself, he returned to reality which he didn't spend any more than a second. Nobody noticed that he has gone to the armory of his inner mind.

"I'll have to assist them, thanks for your help, Desmond." Arnold thanks the man who healed him.

"No need for that, my duty as a medic would never end," Desmond said before he heads out again.

Arnold looks at the window that Desmond jumped out from. Clenching his fist, he sprints toward it and jumped out with Desmond. The entire scene outside is unbearable, the many blocks of buildings were destroyed until they were just ruins. He can still see some of his allies fighting those Panzers back.

Arnold then reaches out for the T-Gewehr within his inner mind. Like picking it up from his own imaginary weapon racks. With the massive oversized rifle formed right in his hand. He crouched and aim the gun at the closest Panzer that is seeming to fight somebody right now. Feeling the whirl of mana spreading out from his arms to the gun, he aimed at it with his iron sight. To be fair, iron sight is literally the best anyone can have for a WW1 soldier who is not highly exceptional at marksmanship and allowed to have a scope, plus it is better for him this way.

He pulled the trigger and within a mere second or even lower, multiple sound barriers were broken. The bullet created a massive torrent of gales that sucks up all of the ruins in its path as it cuts down the distance between Arnold and the Panzers before even a Servant could blink. The Servant that was locking in combat with the Panzer noticed the bullet of destruction got out of the way while the Panzer got caught in its line of fire.

In the next second, the Panzer is gone, whether it got broke down into scraps or got shot into the stratosphere, it didn't matter the slightest to Arnold, what matter is that it is gone. That Servant there seems to head for another one, the one that is fighting another Servant.

Arnold pulls the bolt back and the casing falls out, he pulled out another bullet that formed magically in his pocket, he reloads the gun and pushes the bolt back. Aiming another shot, he carefully aimed so that he won't cause friendly fire. When his chance comes, he pulled the trigger again as the same torrent of destruction came fort. For every shot, that he fried, a Panzer got takes down in a swift manner. Soon enough, he cleared out all of the Panzers that were present in this area.

Pretty much everyone who was close regrouped, but this whole battle has stretched too long already. But what was surprising to Arnold that he slept through 3 hours while things still turn for the worse.

"You what?! You said that I have slept for three hours!?" Arnold exclaimed as he learned of what happened to him.

"I am afraid that it is true, the sky above us doesn't lie but what can I say when neither of us can see the time above us!?" Desmond said to Arnold.

"Wait, then what happens to the others? Why are there only you three and me?" Arnold asks the little Archer next to Desmond.

"About that... We were separated as the number of Panzers being presented start to become staggering. They constantly mobilizing and move as fast as they can to the point that they easily surround and separate us. Guess that is what WW2 really is, when no amount of defense works, might as well run as far and fast as you could. That is why WW2 values mobility like that." Chloe said to Arnold.

"Constant mobilizing of armored units... Perhaps..." Gudao said as he links the information together.

"We don't have much time. We have to find the others, now!" Arnold said as he picks up his speed and runs as fast as he could.

Others started to follow him while telling him where is the last known location of the others. Soon, they got out of the ruined area as they head onto the suburban where they found many Panzers station the area. They quickly get themselves into action nonetheless.

"Shirou, Kuro, cripple their mobility, now!" Arnold told them as he gets into the position to fire the T-Gewehr.

Both the sibling traced the Hrunting and charge it with enough amount so that they can pierce the armor enough. The Panzers opened fire on them while they still running around and evade the incoming fires.

Both of them released their arrows and they soon punctured the knees of the two Panzers before them. Arnold then follows up with the shot of his anti-tank rifle and blown the torso of one apart.

The other Panzer noticed and quickly tried to find the source of the firer. Unfortunately, though, Shirou destroyed it in an instant before they could do anything with his Caladbolg.

More and more Panzers keep coming for them, the sounds of roaring steel just seems to never cease at all. They lined up in a straight line which is fortunate for Arnold whose rifle can fire bullets at high-hypersonic speed and it just doesn't stop there at all. He is safe for the siblings drew all of the attention to them which he can easily snipe for as long as he cares.

Suddenly, the ground near him started to tremble. Arnold knew that this isn't going to go for his favor and heighten his senses as sharp as he could. Just as knew it, he quickly rolled over and evaded a smashing strike from a Tiger that seems to notice and tried to take him out.

Arnold quickly recovered and stood up, the Tiger pulled a left hook which smashes away the plank from the floor he stood on, Arnold easily evaded it and fired the T-Gewehr at it one-handed. The immense recoils knocked his arm high up to the sky, the bullet meanwhile struck right at the Tiger's torso and punched a huge dent in the chest. The thing is dazed from the received attack and most likely not going to recover in the next instant.

Arnold then reaches out to the imaginary weapon racks and grabs the bundle of dynamite and the lighter. He ignites it and shoved it right into the Tiger's eye. He then jumps out of the building as he left the Tiger to its doom.

An explosion soon followed up and blown what is left of the building away. Arnold who is outside reloaded his gun again. He then crouches and aimed his gun carefully so that his friends won't get caught in his fire.

The path ahead of them is now littered with scraps from fallen Panzers and on their side is filled with damage caused by the Panzers. They have yet to see the end of these as they can't even know how much are there of those things.

Arnold's shoulder is aching from constant punishments that it is being subjected to. The T-Gewehr held immense firepower but there is a limit to how much one's body can withstand, transient or not. Even then, Arnold still aiming down with his sight, not wasting any second to take down the Panzers.

However, he noticed something and soon telling everyone to stop. Gudao who was there also commanding the Servants to take down the closest one then change into defensive stances. Soon enough, the Panzers from the furthest back got destroyed and another one fall out of its own knee. It was them, the rest of the separated Servants. It seems that they managed to break through the encirclement thanks to the others' help.

Soon, they managed to reunite with each other. But something is amiss, Arnold realized that there are two people who are still missing. Alfin and Alice, where on earth could they be right now!?

It didn't take long to have his question got answered. A large explosion went off in a distance and its shockwave can be felt from here. Arnold realized what it can only mean and he soon tried to run towards it. However, Larry grabbed Arnold by the shoulder to prevent him from acting on impulse.

"Arnold, I know what you are trying to do but this is important to everyone including you. I tried to get this information to everyone but what transpired in the last 3 hours prevented me from doing so. This information would be a 'make it or break it' to this entire operation of ours." Larry said to Arnold as he held to Arnold's shoulder.

Everyone then looks at Larry, waiting for an answer to be given. They knew Larry always being serious but the expression he carries right now is telling a different story.

"There are three types of those mechanical droids. Panzers, Tiger... And most dangerous above all of them by a huge margin is the King Tiger. What Shirou's account told me about the clash between him and the Tiger but not even a Tiger from what I know is that durable. What they fought was a King Tiger, whose armor is enchanted to nullify all attacks that result in changes in the physical and mystical nature surrounding itself. In other words, the only way to take them down is a very powerful physical Noble Phantasm that it can bust through the resistance of the armor itself. You can't sidestep it with Conceptual Noble Phantasm or anything at all." Larry told all about what he knew.

Kiritsugu listens to what Larry said attentively but he somehow can't shake off the feeling that Larry might know way too much for a random summoned Servant in this world. But needless to say, this information changed a lot perspective in their ways of combat

And as they move toward the battleground between what could be presumed as a battle against a King Tiger, they quickly devise their tactics and how they should act accordingly. Once they get there, they soon realized that the enemy they are up against is a Herculean task in itself.

The widespread destruction created by the unfathomable power of the King Tiger as it unleashes its destruction everywhere it fires at. The girl with blond hair who is unmistakably Alfin is trying to fight it with the cannons protruding out of the burning portals around her. But none of them are making a dent on its armor. Meanwhile, she is showing signs of burn on her body and her clothes. It seems that she is struggling to fight it on equal ground. Larry is right, you would need a group of Servants just take this thing down properly.

"Richard! Use your Noble Phantasm, now!" Pierce said to his Servant.

In an instant, Richard materialized his Gatling Gun and started to fire at the King Tiger, it soon also returned fire with the twin machine gun mounted on its arm. Both of them have ridiculous fire rates that it is nothing less but a storm confined to a single gun. Bullets clash with each other create a deafening symphony that could rupture a Servant's eardrum.

None of them refused to yield as they locked in combat and stood their grounds. Larry took advantage of this as he dashes toward the leg of the King Tiger. The hulking mech seems to also notice him as it tried to kick him away. However, he quickly sidesteps with little movement wasted and soon got to its behind. He then materializes a wooden stake that is familiar to him and then he impales the King Tiger through its knee with the said stake. It was successful and it confirmed his suspicion, the joints aren't armored. It makes sense since if they just going to fully armor the thing, they might as well build a turret instead.

The freezing process seems to work slower than the others, might have been innate magic resistance but the process still works regardless. The knee joint of the King Tiger is slowly being frozen and the creaking of froze hydraulic press only to serve it further.

The King Tiger realized the possibility of defeat, it decided to break the impasse by firing the cannon right at Richard who is trying to suppress it. However, its intention was quickly swept away its accomplishment.

_**time alter - nona accel**_

The shell's firing velocity was easily surpassing hypersonic in speed. But to Kiritsugu and Iri with his **time alter **on, it was pitifully slow. A Servant's reaction speed and dexterity surpass the human apex by hundreds of times. In **time alter**, both of them are indomitable to any external influences. But, their weakness in this is time dislocation. A Servant's body can endure far more than anything human-made can but that doesn't mean they are indestructible. At the acceleration of nine, their body could have ripped themselves apart for hundreds of times even. Iri's healing ability and Noble Phantasm are the only reason they are still alive but it helped nothing with the tremendous physical pain they are enduring.

When the shell got close, Kiritsugu grabbed the shell in midair and put all of his strength to throw it away as far as possible. His throwing speed isn't anything special among Servants but it is no doubt something to not scoop off at all. The shell was thrown off into the air and he quickly disables his **time alter** as quickly as he could. Soon, both of them collapsed into the ground and Desmond carefully dragged them away while avoiding Richard's fire.

The shell flung sky high and soon exploded with the power of thousands bomb. The shockwave can even be felt directly from the ground which is a testament of how powerful it is.

**"Berserker!** **Include"** Illya yelled as she channels the tremendous strength through the card on her hand.

She then proceeds to plunge her hands into the ground and then pulled the tract of land right beneath the King Tiger and flip it up. The King Tiger lost its balance and started to tumble. Richard foresees what happened next and disengage. The King Tiger having its left leg frozen and unable to move properly and thus became greatly confused at what it should do.

**"Trace! Overedge!" **Kuro yelled as she plunged the pair of Bakuya and Kanshou into the tract of land that Illya flipped.

Right in the next instant, the overedged blade pierce through the land and impale the King Tiger right at the shoulder joints and thus completely immobile it. Kuro who was underneath right at the tract of land and King Tiger's position as it being flipped midair. She let the blades go and disengage as the tract of land about to land.

Soon, the tract of land that King Tiger got impaled to is now landed. Shirou now will be the one to finish it all off, preparing his stance and then started to trace the very same blade that he destroyed the first King Tiger that he encountered. Arnold who was closeby watching the execution of the King Tiger about to unfold, until something happened.

_**Hold him**_

Whether that was his impulse or not, Arnold quickly tried to grab Shirou's arm to stop him from tracing the Excalibur. Getting caught off guard by Arnold's action, Shirou canceled his projection.

"What are you doing!?" Shirou yelled at Arnold as his sudden action threw him off guard.

"Don't destroy the King Tiger yet! We might still have use of it!" Arnold said while Shirou tried to get Arnold's hands off him.

"What use-" Shirou said before he noticed something going different than how he thought.

_**Words of God: **__** For this part, play Persona 3 **__**The Movie**__** \- Burn My Dread - Last Battle **_

Alfin is approaching it from the back, surrounding her are embers, scattering around, a demented yet determined look on her face showing many mixed emotions that can't be discerned from each other. The others soon looked at her as she getting nearer to it. And then, she threw a white-hot chain that struck right at the shoulder joint as it started to meld into the King Tiger. The hulking mech started to roar and attempted to writhe in pain as the burning sensation started to course through it. But it is stuck and that was the only fate to it.

She then threw another at the neck while climbing on top of it, it tried to break through but she begins to jam that same chain on the other end into her own wrist. She winced as it cauterizes her but in only makes her far more determined to see things through.

"Burn my dread..." She said as she plunges another one into its wrists as if connecting it to her.

The thing stopped making any noise as if it accepting her as its new master. With each chain nailed into the King Tiger, the embers started to form more and more around it. Nobody around her actually knows what she is intending as this is something entirely out of this world for them.

She soon grabbed the end of the last chain and then she plunged it into her other wrist. As if she just make a blood oath of something demonic, the flame started to course through the King Tiger from its feet and spreading throughout its body and then it also spreads to her. Shedding away that pathetic state of her, the flame reborn her anew.

**"Burn my dread!"** Alfin yelled as the flame of rebirth turned her into something completely different.

She wore a short dress with frills instead of the soldier's attire with side steel platings like tank skirts attached to her waist belt to protect her lower body. On her wrists are shackles chained straight into the King Tiger which emitting light like an ember. On top of her head is a tiara made entirely from steel, no precious metal, no jewel, no adornment at all. But the most striking characteristic is the cat ears made out of steel on her head. Whether it is actually working or not can only be told later. She is no mere soldier anymore but now a queen of steel.

Arnold looks at her, feeling extremely mesmerized at what was just happened. It all changes way too suddenly that he can't catch up at all. It was to the point that he can't even feel what is going besides him.

"Ambush!" Shirou said as he sidesteps away from Arnold's position.

"Huh?" Arnold said as he just snapped out of the mesmerization then looked up to see a Panzer about to crush him.

Within a swift second, Alfin is in front of him with the King Tiger behinds her. Arnold then looks back to see a scattering mess of scraps that was the aftermath of that Panzer. He then noticed a battalion of Panzers and Tigers came forward to this place. He then turns back to Alfin and he saw her smile.

"Let me help you..." Alfin said politely with a melancholic smile before she rushes ahead of him.

Before the Panzers could do anything, she gutted one with a swift punch of the King Tiger. After that, she proceeds to command the King Tiger to rip the dead Panzer's arm off, the chained mech obliged without asking any question as it rips the arm off and then bashes another Panzer's head with said arm. Such strength and tenacity being displayed that is unbelievable, she controls the King Tiger as if it were her body. The Panzers tried to stand their ground to fight back against her but they were helpless against the power of King Tiger which easily overpower them without any effort.

The King Tiger justs one strike them all and they are just scraps on the ground. Despite the continuous onslaught of them, none of them are measured up to her. She snapped their joints and smashed their torsos before a second passed. The Tiger can put up more of a fight but she usually annihilates them before they can actually do her any harm. And she didn't even use any ranged armaments that the King Tiger would use.

The other Servants are fighting back against the Panzers but he just got completely caught by how powerful she has just become. He noticed that a group of 8 Panzers led by a Tiger is charging straight at her and he started to wonder how she would break through it. Adrenaline filled into his blood, time started to slow down. He analyzed everything as to how he would assist her, until.

Alfin and her King Tiger, they started to move faster while everything else still at slow-mo. Arnold thought only he could alter his perception of time but that belief of his get discarded as she pulverizes the 8 Panzers and that Tiger before he could just process everything that happened. Time flowed back to normal and the shattered remains of those Panzers scatter on the ground while she still kicking in full force. As far as he knows, the Tiger doesn't die by one punch of her normally but she just precisely destroyed it with a decisive strike before it could react.

Chaos started to override anything, there is absolutely no plan at all. Everyone is basically fighting the best they could without following any tactics at all. The King Tiger, its fist emanating an aura of azure dust on its blood-stained hand. Alfin is still looking extremely calm despite being at the heart of the onslaught right now. Her attacks have nothing that can exceed its brutality. She then swings with the left arm on an approaching Panzer and smashed its upper body away in the direction towards Arnold.

He simply dodged it but he never once thought that someone like her can get any more powerful at all. There is absolutely no word that can adequately describe what is unfolding in front of him. Within that glimmer of a second, he noticed that she is looking at him. He doesn't need to learn any body language but he could tell that she is telling him to get back to the fight. Don't spend any more second looking at her if it could help the others.

Arnold nodded, simply hope that she caught glimpse of it. He then moves on with the T-Gewehr in his hand, seeking to take down as many of those Panzers as he could. He fights but always keeps this one fact in the back of his mind. The mastermind behinds this attack has to be somewhere. If he can't find him then there won't be any hope of making through.

Arnold's figure soon reached out of her sight, Alfin sighed as the King Tiger that she controls wreck havoc on the last of the enemy that is present. Suddenly, her instinct flares up as if foreseeing a premonition. She looked around and sees that one tiger-headed mech right in front of her. She knew what it is, another King Tiger. She looks at it intently as she braces for whatever the enemy is intending to. But there is this one fact that stood out to her, its aura is different, not the one that she knows of or familiar at all. She decided that she can safely assume the operator of the opposing King Tiger is a Servant.

The opposing enemy opened fire at her with its cannon, the operating speed was so fast that she didn't catch onto it at first but she has already prepared to act accordingly. Her King Tiger swung its right arm and deflected the high-explosive shell away without detonating it. The shell flew off then exploded with great power behind.

Alfin looked at it while the aftermath shockwave scatters the dust, she knew that she must take that thing down. Servant or not, it has to be taken down! Alfin then charges toward it with her King Tiger behind. The opposing King Tiger did the same. Both of them preparing their attacks, each will collide with each other with forces that could shatter the earth apart. There is only one thing to say about this, it is after all... a **decisive collision.**

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Heart of Steel**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**"Fire!"** Illya said as she fires multiple rays of pure mana beam at the Panzers.

Whether it actually deal any meaningful damage is best left to speculation but the follows up with that stone sword-ax definitely killed one of them. She then keeps swinging that same sword-ax with strength enough to bisect the enemy.

"Caladbolg!" Shirou chanted as he let the spiral arrow go as it pierces through multiple Panzers in one shot. Caladbolg's strength lies in the fact that it twisted the space around it and thus ignore conventional durability. Whatever the King Tiger's armor got enchanted on, it nullifies the space altering ability of the Caladbolg and makes it nothing more than a drill. Even Caladbolg without space twisting ability is powerful enough to pierce most armor just to show how resistant the King Tiger is.

"Tiger at 3 o'clock! Cripple its maneuverability first!" Kuro said to her brother as she traces a Hrunting and prepared to fire it.

The Tiger quickly approaches them. Kuro fired her Hrunting and busted right into the knee of it. Even then, it doesn't stop moving but also tried to go faster with is limped right leg, Kuro realizes what is going to happen and quickly tried to find a countermeasure.

"Not so fast!" The familiar voice said.

The voice belongs to Larry who is leaping from building to building, with each landing results in a large explosion that pushes him back to the sky. He quickly approaches to their location as fast as he could. The Tiger lunged toward them like a hungry beast seeing its prey but Larry came just in time to give a curb-stomping of lifetimes.

He landed right on its back and the explosion that followed afterward busted it into nothing but mere scraps. He then landed safely on the ground with nothing happened at all.

"Holy... What did you do, Larry?" Shirou asked the Finnish in the white cloak.

"I attached anti-tank mines to my feet. You gotta use your imagination or you won't last long at all. Make good uses of it." Larry said before he attaches the mines he materialized into his feet and then bounce off again with a bang.

Shirou looks baffled at what just going on, something that sounds so stupid in a time like this just doesn't go well at all to him. Not that this was the end of it yet, a Tiger burst through from a nearby building and grabbed Shirou before he could react in time. Kuro and Illya quickly retaliate but the Tiger mercilessly kicked both of them with an earth-shattering strength behind it. Just right at the last moment, Illya created that same sword-ax and blocked the killing blow but it still knocked them away by a considerable distance.

The Tiger then threw Shirou as the forces behind it burst him through many buildings. He braced for it and thus not too badly damaged. Afterward, he pulled himself back into his stance and fired a Hrunting right at the eye of it. It then roared and fired at him with its cannon, Shirou then sidestepped all of its attacks and even grabbed one of the shells that flying at him. Seeing him dodging all of it, the Tiger became enraged and charged straight at him. Shirou then proceeds to fling the shell that he grabbed right back at the Tiger and broke its hull armor in an instant.

Seeing its armor got damaged, Shirou decided to charge ahead towards it and pulled out the dual swords Kanshou and Bakuya. He overedged them as they became the amalgamation of angel and demon. Within quick succession, he stabbed right at the torso of the Tiger and it then swatted him off but he blocked it with another pair of dual swords he traced.

It then tried to smash him into pastes seeing how ranged attack just got backfired against it. With each smash shook the earth to its core but even then Shirou evaded all of them like child's play. He quickly climbed onto its back and retraced his bow, he then traced 6 Hrunting and turns them all into arrows. Quickly drawing his bow with all of them in places, he shot the Tiger right at its back at the point-blank range which broke the entire back hull. He then pulled the bloodstained overedged dual blades that he pierced it from before from the back and stabbed the Tiger repeatedly with it until the dual blades disintegrated.

The Tiger fell became lifeless, with the back of it reeking with holes and blood and soon azure ashes started to scatters from there. Shirou can only give it a single look before he turned away. That is the price for attempting to harming any of his family members.

"Damn it... They are ruthless and underhanded but if that is how they wanted then I shall become their own darkest fear." Shirou said as he walks away from the destruction that was left behind, not giving single care whether or not.

Shirou then moves toward where his sisters are. On his way, he encountered more of those Panzers who are pursuing him, Shirou prepared to drew his bow at them until a figure broke through the window of a nearby building. It was Arnold as he spun around and 360-no-scoped them with the T-Gewehr, although it is given that his rifle didn't have a scope to begin with.

Arnold then landed nearby Shirou and gives him suppressing fire so that they can stabilize the situation. A Tiger burst through from the building that he jumped out from, intending to crush them both into pastes, Arnold simply sidestepped and grabbed the pickaxe that he has with him since that faithful encounter and broke its kneecap with a precision that is unparalleled. The thing knelt from losing its ability to stand, Shirou then leaped into a high distance and traced the overedged dual blades before he came crashing down on it like a guillotine.

_**"Spirit and technique, flawless and firm"**_

Within a single slash of his overedged dual blades, the Tiger completely split into two parts and also killed its operator in the process. There are still more of those Panzers and they are charging at them almost in a reckless manner.

"Damn it! We have to move now!" Shirou said as he rushes ahead first, he needs to ascertain the safety of his two sisters.

Arnold nodded and follows him. Before he catches on to Shirou, he grabbed the bundle of dynamite and ignites them before dropping them into the ground. He estimated their speed and it would most likely land on them when they are about to detonate. He then follows Shirou and let everything up to the sky above him. In a few seconds, an explosion occurred that blown everything up there and thrown everything around it into a rain of fragments.

Shirou and Arnold, both of them still running and leaving behind the pillar of smoke that stretches to the sky. The onslaught still going on as they can't find an end to all of this, time is running out for everyone here and if they stretched the battle to night time, they will be at a massive disadvantage.

"Another Panzer blockade ahead, prepare to initiate combat," Arnold said as he caught sight of the blockade ahead of him from a distance.

They thought there will only be two of them fighting until another Servant burst through from a closeby building. He jumped out with a revolver holding in each hand and fired at the approaching Panzers. Each bullet impact on the Panzers then exploded violently with a power that is unbelievably contained in a single handgun bullet. The Servant landed on his two feet and turned around to Arnold and Shirou. They could easily tell who it was, Richard.

"Seems like I wasn't late at all" Richard said as he calmly reloads his revolvers.

A horde of Panzers came and surrounded them, three of them standing in the middle of it. They looked carefully at the Panzers that surrounded them and prepared to act accordingly.

"When I count to three, act now..." Arnold whispered to his allies near him.

And when the three seconds passed, the Panzers opened fire on the three Servants. They quickly move to action and run away from the blast impact of the enemy firing. Shirou quickly traced the dual blades and throws it into the knee joint of the Panzers, Arnold decisively strikes his pickaxe right into another Panzer into its knee, he then quickly turns around and throw a bundle of ignited dynamites at Richard. Richard then quickly leaped and spin kicks the dynamite with a force that is enough to pierce into the Panzer itself.

"Now, run for the hill!" Arnold said as he quickly crippled the last Panzer.

All of them then run as fast as they could before the dynamite detonated, and another explosion occurred which then brought ruins to everything surrounding it. All of them somehow managed to avoid getting affected by a hairbreadth.

"Phew... Hold on. If you are here then... Where's your Master!?" Shirou said as he realized something amiss.

"Don't worry about him, he could hold his ground, plus he wasn't near me when that occurred. Didn't you forget this bad boy right here?" Richard said as he pointed at his own revolver.

They soon understood what Richard meant, but it still not shrugging off the feeling that he might have put too much faith in his Master's capability.

Suddenly, the clashing sounds of something go deafening to the point that the chaos around can't even measure up. They can only brace themselves for whatever to come. And bursting through the whole block of buildings is the brawl between two King Tigers, with each blow can bring massive collateral damage. Both of them locked in combat, pummeling and canceling each other's attack with equal force. The impact behind each pummel were so great that the shockwave can make Servants' ear rupture if they remain nearby for extensive periods.

**"Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless-" **Alfin lets out her battle cry as she rides on the King Tiger while it punching at the opposing enemy repeatedly with the speed beyond even a Servant's perception speed.

All three of them can only watch as the battle in front of them unfold. If they intervene, they might receive the receiving end from both of them.

"**Useless!" **Alfin lets out her cry as she charged all of her strength into that one next punch and knocked back the opposing King Tiger with it.

Seeing how determined she is, the opposing King Tiger decided to fall back before she might be able to kill it. It did so by also giving her a punch of equal power as payback and knocked her back away enough so that it can disengage. And it also has many other Panzers and Tigers quickly block the way so that she can't reach it easily.

"So this how you intended to play, huh? Not that those pawn of yours can measure up to me..." She said as she gave a disgusted look while cracking her knuckles and the King Tiger did the same since it follows her thoughts and what she does.

She then charges through and struck the approaching Panzers with ease, the back liners fired their ranged armaments at her in hope that it might harm her but those barrage of bullets don't even make a single dent on her King Tiger. She hangs on to it from the back seems to know what is in front of her without even looking at all. The ability to percept a different perspective without looking at said perspective is definitely not what one would call a useless skill.

Her foresight is so great that it reaches the realm of clairvoyance, whether it was her instinct or anything, her King Tiger climbs up the hill where Panzers and Tigers are retaliating back at her with all they have. And she just tanks all the bullets and deflects the shells with her simple swing of arms, those that got too close to her ended up smashed into scraps with her single swing alone.

"Too slow... I can't let him get away." Alfin thought as she tried to pick her King Tiger's speed up.

"The King Tiger started to move faster, slowly from walking into power-walking and then running and into full-blown sprinting, before the enemy realized it, they are dead before they could do anything to retaliate back. The opposing King Tiger realized it and quickly tried to retreat. Alfin despite not seeing but she knew damn well it is.

"Oh no, you don't!" Alfin said as she quickly cutting down the distance and annihilating the enemy that tried to stop her.

And when the last thing that is standing between the opposing enemy and her is a Tiger. She quickly grabbed it and make a large jump towards the enemy King Tiger, she then slams the Tiger itself into the King Tiger as both of them got crushed into the ground itself. She stands on them, prepared to commence the execution, cracking her knuckles again and then pummeling the Tiger that is on top of the King Tiger with the intention to crush both of them.

**"****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless ****Useless-"**

Nobody really able to count how much time has passed or how much punch she has done, such a ceaseless barrage pummeling from the King Tiger would have flattened anything to even thinner than a paper. And as a finisher, she activated the main cannon of the King Tiger and aimed at what would be called the former King Tiger that was flattened to the point not even any miracle would make it operable again.

A massive blast soon follows and plowed a massive amount of land right in front of her, the opposing King Tiger is wiped from existence without any trace remain. Alfin who was so agitated and driven entirely on adrenaline until this point finally calmed herself. The King Tiger also stopped and Alfin climbs up to its shoulder and bore witness to the destruction she created herself. She only sighed as she sits down for the onslaught has finally ended. At least everyone is safe, or that is what she thought.

Everyone soon regrouped around her, the Master of Chaldea is also presented too. Now, it seems like a perfect time to discuss what they should do next.

"So what should we do now?" Kuro asked her Master.

"What we should do? First, we need to sort out all of the information so far. There are too many leaps in logic and information right now." Gudao said to all of his Servant.

"So did you figure something out?" Larry asked Gudao to see if he is as smart that any Servant just followed him willingly.

"First off, the number of armored units is staggering. This is simply an unnatural tactic that is difficult to follow through unless you have extreme specialization of it, right? Gudao said to all of his fellow Servants.

Everyone nodded. In fact, they haven't seen a single infantry at all in this battle.

"And you know how fast those armored units that we just fight? It contradicts our first handed experience of the battle against them, they hardly move that fast and quite sluggish with their gears. But here, that level of proficiency could keep up with a Servant for a while. Someone who has the leadership skills with mass armored attacks and tactics. You can figure that out if you are well versed in WW2 but I would cut to the chase." Gudao said as he walking around the area with his hands behind his back

"That Servant we most likely fighting against is Erwin Rommel. The Desert Fox. That man who commanded the 7th Armored Division and burst straight into the capital before a day even passed. Because of how swift he is, the 7th Armored Division became known as the Ghost Division. His skills as a military commander are unparalleled and he also goes straight into the front line with his troops. " Gudao said all of the necessary information while cutting away the unnecessary one.

"So that is the kind of guy we are fighting against, huh?" Arnold said as he thought solemnly.

"And I have one question for you. Are you sure what you were fighting is actually Rommel?" Gudao said as he questions Alfin himself.

"Uhm..." Alfin started to doubt herself when she is being presented that possibility but she was sure that the enemy King Tiger there is giving out Spirit Origin signal.

"I take it as you are unsure. Da Vinci, is it possible for one to falsify their S.O signal?" Gudao said as he takes out his comm then speaks to it.

"Hey, it has been a while since the last time we talk. About what you asked, I could say that it is a possibility. Oh! Gil! You seem to be tired but we are talking to the Master right now. Do you want to-" Da Vinci said before she got cut off.

"How dare you speak to me in that tone, mongrel?! But whatever, I shall forgive you this time for I have found some interesting thing in my search in the treasury. Oh and about that Spirit Origin falsify thingy? That is possible with a specifically built spell or with some skills and Noble Phantasm. You already have an answer in mind, right?" Gilgamesh said as he took the comm for himself and projected his hologram for everyone on the other side to see.

"Yeah, Yan Qing, that guy can indeed falsify Spirit Origin signal and his own appearance but he can still be busted if not having the adequate parameters to keep it up," Gudao said to his strongest Servant in the arsenal.

"Still as sharp as I remember. But I am here because I found some interesting thing, in this stone tablet is a prophecy, seems to be Mayan of sorts but who knows. One of a kind but of course it is one of a kind that hardly anyone can find something like this. Either way, here is what I deciphered.

_"The stars will bring its finality. In the color of the sky, Judgment shall be brought in 70 years before the end of all."_

"Well, that is what I deciphered at least, I am the wise king of Uruk for a good reason you know," Gilgamesh said with a stern smile.

"70 years before the end of all. Is the prophecy using Mayan's calendar?" Gudao asked.

"Huh, that is the most I can believe if it is true. The supposed end of Mayan's calendar is 2012 which is when calamities befall on this world and all will be gone, all of them which didn't happen. But the judgments in the color of the sky, and 70 years before the end of all. Don't you find it strange that it lined up like this? Right at the heart of WW2 of all things." Gil said as he states the fact.

Gudao started to think about what Gil said, the judgments in the color of the sky, it is probably how this world came to its end but humanity in some form still persists. The Nazis still going strong, war is still being fought. Nations collapsed within this eternal madness that was descended into this world.

"Either way, don't you have something else to worry about now? I shall go deeper into my research to see things through. This is my good luck to you." Gil said as he turned off his hologram.

Gudao sighed, the possibility that they might be fighting something greater than what they might have known. The idea that the enemy Servant might still be alive. But he needs to focus on the recent task, the bigger one will be left to later.

"Remember, this is the man who outsmarted the French army by literally going around the Maginot line. We might have already fallen into his ploy by now." Gudao said to all of the Servants that are present.

"But I heard him talking from that King Tiger, he must have been there, right?" Alfin asked for she doesn't want to believe all of what she did was for nothing.

"Radio. Out of all the things you chose to forget." Gudao said as he could felt the embarrassment and disappointment.

The idea that Rommel might have put a red herring started to become more possible the more time passed, and it all became real as the tremor that shook the ground of them started to go more chaotic.

"Everyone, splits up, now!" Gudao commanded all of the Servants to follow his words.

Shirou grabbed Gudao and Richard grabbed Pierce, everyone else moves away as fast as they could from the meeting location. Soon, a massive explosion plowed where they were and turned it into nothing but a crater. The power behinds it is as much as MOAB, or probably even more powerful than it.

Shirou balanced his stance and looked for where the firer might be but when he realized it, his pupils shrunk as he tried to process that monstrosity made out of steel.

It is a large bipedal mech, its height around 20 meters, heavily armored to the point it makes King Tiger's hull looks like paper to it. It is armed with a high-powered railgun, two rotary autocannons on each side, anti-tank missiles which can be launched from its back. Whether it was some sort of sicks dream, there is no doubt about it, that thing is a Metal Gear, real in steel and oil.

Suddenly facing a far greater adversary, Shirou quickly changed his priority to ensure the safety of his Master. There is also no way to be sure that Excalibur could take that thing down. The only thing in his mind that he thought could work would be Ea or Vasavi Shakti and he doesn't have the proficiency to recreate those Noble Phantasms.

Clapping his face, stuck in a dilemma bigger than the world. How on earth would he exactly fighting this?! Fighting on the ground is asking for death sentences, there is no way that would work in the slightest. He keeps thinking for an answer but that is like finding that one exact needle in a needle stack.

The rundown house that he and his Master is hiding in is like a shelter made out of glass to protect from the meteor shower. Sooner or later, this house would up and vanish like never existed, to begin with.

In a mere second, the roof is blown off, then in the next second, a blinding light burst through the wall and both Shirou and Gudao narrowly avoided death by a hairbreadth. The remaining aftermath is a large chasm that goes into quite a depth They now know that they need to find a solution, right now!

"Damn it, we have to reconcile with everyone else, this can't go on or else..." Gudao said as he tried to recover himself from the ground.

He then gazes through the broken window and saw a large figure of steel made passing through like a fleeting image. He can tell who it is immediately, without anything else. It is Alfin, still using the King Tiger to charge towards the Metal Gear. But what on earth is she thinking!? There is no way to fight that thing at all with such even with the King Tiger like that.

"Master, we have to reconcile with everyone now. She has brought us time to do so and we can't let it all go to waste." Shirou said as he picked his Master up and moves as fast as he could.

While running through the ruins that were brought onto by the Metal Gear, he started to worry about how he will find everyone else when everything is in disarray like this. Suddenly, he noticed a flash of a flare in the sky, the sky is turning dark after all for they are entering night time. At this point, the night is the least worrying thing right now.

He turned his head to the right and sees the destruction unfolding, the Metal Gear is like a walking armageddon. Anything it strikes all turned into ashes and ruins. Its power shattering the earth into the hazardous terrains, such power like this would scale up to Servants' Noble Phantasm if compared. And to think that Alfin willingly risks her life so that a solution for this dilemma can be reached.

In before long, they reached their rendezvous location. Everyone is present except for Alfin who is diverting all of the Metal Gear's attention away. All of them look anxious, for they are reaching an impasse that has no solution. However, among the growing anxiety, there is still a single breeze of calmness among. Arnold who seems thinking about a possible solution.

"Arnold, do you have an idea?" Gudao asked the man for there is no one else to ask for.

After a moment, Arnold broke out of his thoughts. Realizing that the Master of Chaldea is asking him, he decided to go straight forward with his solution.

"I have an idea but I don't have the stuff required to execute it. But since we are knee-deep in this mess, to begin with. Might as well go all out. If we can't take that thing down on the ground, we will assault it on the air. Like anti-air guns, it can't depress to high up vertically and thus giving us more chance to take it down. The only problem is that how can we even parachute on it." Arnold giving his unorthodox solution but might be the one to resolve it all.

"Getting up to the sky... Wait, perhaps us Chaldeans can actually resolve that!" Gudao suddenly received his brainstorm as he connected the pieces together.

"How?" Arnold asked as he wanted to know the answer.

Gudao whips out his comm then initiates the connection to Shadow Border. The sounds of verdant destruction still rampaging on the background only serves to make things more nerve-racking. Then the connection made through and what he received is a bombardment of questions.

"Master! Are you alright!? We have seen the observing feeds and getting really worried." Da Vinci said as she cries tears of happiness to see him being alright.

"Now is not the time, bring us those papers that are etched with teleportation runes, now!" Gudao replied loudly to overpower the deafening sounds of rampages on the distance.

"Understood!" Da Vinci said without fails and she soon disappears from the camera.

"Tsk, best we can do is hope that the Metal Gear won't find us too soon," Gudao said as he holds the communicator and waiting for her to return.

It was roughly 30 seconds but those 30 seconds were so stressful that they thought they have waited far longer than that.

"We sent them to your location, all is left to you now, Master!" Da Vinci said before the communicator is cut off.

Seeing the 6 sheets of paper that are in front of Gudao, he checked it and can confirm that they are teleportation runes with each pair connected and can be activated with a small amount of mana. But that brings to another question, how will they get it up to the sky? Before anyone asked that, Arnold has already brought the solution as he took out 3 pigeon cages which held them separately from inside of his cloak like magic.

"Wait, you have pigeons?" Shirou asked as he found it surprising that he got something like that.

He took the pigeons out of the cage and bind the paper sheet into each pigeon. He then jumped outside and searched for the highest point. In a few moments, he reached the highest place and throw the three pigeons up to the sky. Those 3 pigeons are their last hope as they soar up to the skyline above them. Soon their figures are gone into the hazy cloud of the rain itself.

Arnold then returns to the rendezvous point, seeing the three sheets of teleportation runes activated. The chosen three that were selected for this battle are Kiritsugu who is going to be accompanied by his wife thus technically make it a four, Larry who has the rocket launcher prepared along with his parachute. However, Larry approaches him and then giving him the familiar 6-barreled machine gun.

"The Final Conda! Damn... I forgot about it." Arnold said as he reaches for the gun that consumes his life force for powerful attacks.

"I held on to it for you when you were out cold. Consider it the perfect chance to give that Metal Gear hell." Larry said as he handed the gun over to Arnold.

"And here is the parachute, supplied by me. Consider it a gift." Kiritsugu said as he gives the parachute to Arnold.

"Are we ready? Step on the teleportation rune and then I shall count to three and then activate them." Gudao said as he looked at the chosen Servants of this assault.

The four of them nodded together as they entered the teleportation runes, how exactly high up they will be, only God could answer that question.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

**_Angels' Descendence_**

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

_**Words of God: **__** For this part, play Ao no Kiseki - Steel Roar**_

"Holy! How high up are we!?" Larry said as the height they are dropping is staggering than how he thought.

One thing for sure though is that they are above the clouds and now descending with the speed that is accelerating faster than they can control.

"Everyone? Are you ready for this!?" Arnold said as he is about to pull the parachute.

Everyone then opens their parachutes and then begins to fall slowly to below the cloud. When their visions became clear, they noticed that they are right above the Metal Gear as it is trying to kick Alfin away. Knowing that there isn't much time left, they quickly come to action.

Kiritsugu started first by getting the largest known rifle, the JDJ .950. The person who convinced the NFA that this is a hunting rifle should be hired to deal with highly dangerous international negotiation and trade deals. It DOES hunting alright, it hunts rhino, the armored vehicle one. And Kiritsugu will push the thing to its limit in this fight.

Taking out the gigantic bullet from his pouch and his wife who held onto the back and quickly broken charge the bullet as soon as she could. It is quite a feat for two people to use one same parachute but whatever suits them. He then chants his unique spell on to it, the **time alter **speel which makes the thing move far faster but also risking it to implode. In this case, he has a second at best

**time alter - nona accel**

With broken-charged, 9-time speed, and Servant's modifier. This thing will probably reach re-entry speed in terms of pure muzzle velocity. He then aims the rifle down as the time-bombed bullet started to ticking down. He then pulled the trigger and in one shot, it pushed him back to the cloud line with its sheer recoil alone.

"Kiritsugu!" Arnold said as the man beside him is gone before a second passed.

The bullet broke the sound barrier and tore the space around it, a deafening impact of the bullet on the Tiger can be heard despite being up thousands of meters in the sky.

They checked it, a massive hole tore through it but it is not a direct hit, might have missed the cockpit since it is still functioning despite that powerful shot connected just to tell how ridiculous its armor is. This time, the Metal Gear noticed them and begins to fire upward towards them. Arnold's hypothesis is correct, the Metal Gear can't tilt itself straight up. As long as they remain exactly above it, they won't hit by it.

"Keep firing!" Arnold said as he winds up the Final Conda and firing a stream of infernal at the Metal Gear from above.

"Already on it!" Larry said as he firing the rocket launcher at the Metal Gear.

Nobody can really believe what is happening right now, the two parachuters fighting that metal monstrosity with all of what they had. It is like watching the angels descend from heaven to purge the spawn of hell back to its depth.

"Keep it up!" Arnold said as he holds the trigger of the gun down.

Bullets and missiles flying everywhere, the two of them keep swaying around between the hail of ballistics while returning fire back. They don't know how long they can do this before a misfortunate shot might kill them before they realized it.

Arnold can felt the life of his leaving him the more time passed, all of them in the form of brass cartridges falling endlessly from the Final Conda. Watching as the counters depleting away like watching a timer of his death. He can really feel the drawback but there is no other choice remained.

"Damn it, why!?" Arnold said in frustration that the strongest weapon he has just feel like doesn't seem to make any actual difference at all.

Suddenly, he felt a sense of rejuvenation, he checked the counter and seeing it climbing back with a speed that is unusual even for him. He looked up and see two familiar faces right nearby above him and the white-haired woman is placing her hand on his shoulder. Kiritsugu and Irisviel.

"Wait, when did you!?" Arnold said in surprise to see him back. Of course, they got punt back to the cloudline, not dead.

"Don't push yourselves to only one path, think of the other ways. Try all the options you had and always think ahead of your enemy." Kiritsugu said as he prepares his weapon.

He then looks down at the Metal Gear only to see it activating its railgun and aiming at the three of them, Kiritsugu realized it and pushed Arnold away. In a single moment, a blinding pillar of light burst through Kiri and Iri while Arnold barely escaped. With their parachute incinerated, they only can free fall to their demise. But he knew something for sure is that their resiliences are way beyond than how he ever could fathom and he is sure that they will make it through somehow.

"Damn it! I had enough of that fucking shit below me!" Larry said as he seeing how the Metal Gear took out his allies.

He then ditches the previous rocket launcher away and replaced it with the one with four-tube, it was a design completely foreign to Arnold and he can't even think of what it is. Lary then fires the rocket out of it which makes Arnold guess that it is also a rocket launcher but with a design he completely unheard of.

Arnold then looked back to the Metal Gear, what exactly does he have besides the Final Conda which can harm it? But he knew that there is no harm in trying and so he reaches out to the distant armory once again. Time slowed down for him as his vision turned white. Soon, he found himself there again, trying to search for a weapon that could pierce through the armor of that Metal Gear. Dynamite? T-Gewehr? There is nothing that he could think of. And so he just took everything he obtained in the previous memory fragment with him and going to exit.

Returned back to reality, carrying his MG and T-Gewehr with carrying belts connected so he doesn't accidentally drop them, A bandolier belt that crossed his torso and holding bundles of dynamite. Larry then looked at Arnold and surprised by the amount of weaponry that Arnold is carrying with him. If it wasn't for what they are up against, it would have been called overkill. But there is nothing that can be considered overkill when that Metal Gear is involved.

Arnold then tried out the MG first, he pulled the trigger and what came out of it is a relentless barrage of bullets that is completely unexpected. He remembers that the actual one in his memory isn't this fast. It doesn't feel like shooting, it is like revving up a sawblade at woodcutting mill. And then uses the still working sawblade to smash someone with it.

Still, it was how much he expected, not enough to penetrate the armor. But when a barrage of missiles begin to approach him, he fired at it and sweep them all in one fell swoop. He then realized that if the MG can't pierce through the armor then it would do a fine job at clearing the missiles and ballistics to buy time and created more opportunity.

"Take this!" A feminine voice but carrying great conviction can be heard from below. What followed up a few seconds later is a massive shockwave accompanied by a deafening crashing sound. The shockwave keeps travel and brought ruin to anything in its path for quite a distance. The Metal Gear then changed its prioritized target and quickly trying to deal with the 'pest' that keeps denting its legs.

Arnold and Larry realized it is their chance to go all out, Larry quickly fires his rocket launcher even faster to make the most it with the limited time. Arnold swapped out for his T-Gewehr and test to see if it is enough to break through armor. He aimed his anti-tank rifle downward at the Metal Gear and then pulled the trigger. The sound of the sonic boom followed and the sheer recoils that gutted him right at the shoulder definitely tell that it hurt. Might not be as much as what Kiritsugu attempted but still hurts.

The bullet impacted on top of the Metal Gear and it could tell that the bullet has indeed might have reached right on top of the cockpit but not powerful enough to burst through the armor completely. The bullet hole that is created in the aftermath of his shot is the designated target.

The Metal Gear realized what Arnold, Larry, and Alfin are intending, it begins to act even more aggressively than before. This time, it started to repeatedly kick at the Alfin to knock her away, if it can't then it would try to stomp her, the King Tiger is 3 meters tall and the sheer size of the Metal Gear would completely make the King Tiger looks like a dwarf in its presence.

Its ranged armaments are aimed up at the sky where Larry and Arnold are, the railgun fires at an interval and one must stay out of its line of fire, period. The missiles and autocannons are being constantly fired that they felt like a plane that got caught in a killing ground filled with anti-air batteries. They have absolutely no chance to attack back without getting hit and got no choice but to prioritize their survival first.

Alfin looks up at the sky and realized that she has to do something, she then lunges toward the railgun attached to the Metal Gear and quickly pummeling it as quickly and as powerful as possible. She let out her cry as she desperately tried to destroy the railgun. But... no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make a single dent out of it at all. Just what on earth is this railgun made out of!?

The Metal Gear quickly turns rapidly and bashed her King Tiger with its own railgun. It felt like her own intestine got liquified just from the sheer force that she received. Both she and her King Tiger then got flung away and crashed into many blocks of buildings. With Alfin out of the way, the Metal Gear can then exterminate the remainder without having something to hinder it. Now, it just fires all of its armaments at both Arnold and Larry uncontrolled and with its railgun prepared, somebody is going to die.

"Oh no!" Larry said as he swerves his parachute to prevent himself from getting hit but it is not enough.

Arnold's mind went overdrive, he is about to witness somebody's death. The flow of time slowed down, as he can assess the situation within that meager amount of time. Seconds into minutes, minutes into hours, hours to eternity, he only has this chance to chose the correct course of action. He racks his mind trying to find an answer, how to get Larry out of this situation.

It is almost as if he is trying to resolve the meaning of life, his own mind just can't seem to find an answer. He may have all of the time he has but without a decisive decision, that time would go into waste. Well, that is what it is... until.

He sees a tint of azure glowing upon the strings that keep Larry's parachute working. He suddenly realized an answer but if he does so, he'll be up against an insurmountable task afterward. But if Larry is going to get wiped out for this fight anyway, might as well give him a way to survive.

"I'm sorry..." Arnold said as he takes out a knife from his pocket and throws it at the strings. In one single moment, the strings that connected Larry to his parachute were severed and makes him fall down to the ground below.

"Wuh..." Larry said before he begins his freefall of 4500 meters to the ground below.

And just in time, the Metal Gear fired its railgun and incinerated Larry's parachute and it would have most likely also Larry himself if Arnold hasn't acted in time. Arnold also felt that he might have to give his apology when things are finally resolved. Servants can at least survive a freefall of this height but definitely not getting hit by something with such power like that railgun.

And so, it is just himself left. This is a decisive battle that he can't run away anymore. He will have to use everything he has or there won't be anything left. It is his decision that got him like this and he'll have to make it through with his own strength alone.

Takes out his Final Conda, revving it up. This decisive battle is about to begin.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Inherited Knowledge**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Back to Alfin's position.**

"Ugh... What happened? I'm not feeling so well..." Alfin said as she slowly grasps her consciousness back and picked herself up from the rubbles around her.

She then looks at the Metal Gear wreck havocs in a distance and realized that her own clothes are also in tatter. She then realizes that she probably failed to do what she intended. Takedown the Metal Gear or at least, assist in taking it down. And she failed in doing so even with her newfound power. She then laughed, in a self-loathing and mocking way towards herself for her own failure.

And then she looks at the sky and then surprised to see a single remaining parachuter making his last stand. Firing a stream of blazing fires at the Metal Gear. The chance of him defeating the Metal Gear by alone himself is extremely small yet he still held onto it to the very last. When the Metal Gear about to fire its railgun, an extremely fast-moving projectile impacted the railgun itself and knocked the railgun's line of fire somewhere else. It must be the Archers of Chaldea for there is no one else having such power contained in a single attack like that. Seeing how everyone still held onto the belief that victory can still be attained even in a time like this, she just realized how stupid of her to lose faith in her own allies this easily.

"I have to find them, I can't bind myself in one single solution," Alfin said as she runs toward where everyone is holing up.

She keeps running underneath the ongoing storm, the flash of those arrows impacted on the Metal Gear, the pillar of light burst through the sky, the sounds of the relentless impact of clashing steel. All of them ongoing in the background and one can hardly ignore them.

While she is running through the ruined city itself, she sees a figure running, she quickly discerned the figure by the red cross on the side bag and quickly trying to get the figure's attention.

"Hey! Over here!" Alfin said as loud as she could in order to let her voice break through the chaos unfolding surround her.

The figure noticed her and then tried to get to her position. Just like what she expected, Desmond. He is carrying two people on his back, they looked like they got severely burned but she can still sense their life hanging by a hairbreadth.

"Don't worry, I treated their wounds and they should be able to recover. Also, the red Archer has something to talk with you." Desmond said and then moves away as fast as he could.

Alfin silently followed him, time is running out for everyone and the longer they had to fight this, the more dangerous thing will destine to become.

Meanwhile, Arnold is fighting tooth and nail against the Metal Gear while evading its barrage. The HEIHVAP 12.7mm rounds did work as he can detect how the top of the Metal Gear is melting down. But with his limited mana capacity, whether or not he'll make it there is a question without a proper answer.

Whenever he noticed the Metal Gear charges up its railgun, he switched out for a T-Gewehr and fired it sideways, one-handed. The sheer recoils push him away with a force greater than how his body could wiggle its way out but he would be lying to say that his wrist is unharmed for firing it onehanded but it is a fair price in order to avoid getting annihilated by the railgun.

His vision keeps darken, it is a side effect of using the Final Conda, he wished that he has a much better mana capacity but there is no one else to fill the role he has to follow. He'll make it there, just not right now.

Meanwhile, Alfin looks at where Arnold is, worrying that he won't be able to keep up the fight for long. However, she got interrupted by Shirou who is standing right next to her. She then looks at him nervously, fearing that he might have misunderstood and found her suspicious.

"Hey, we've been fighting for quite a long while. Based on what I saw so far... You know... That power of yours... That power is awfully familiar..." Shirou said as he wanted to inquire about her.

Alfin looked at him while suppressing the growing distress within her. She is currently in a bad state and has no means to defend should he decided that she has to die.

"That power... is awfully similar to me," Shirou said as he frowned aside for a bit.

Suddenly, she felt completely relieved but also curious about what he is trying to allude to.

"Your power is of recreating weaponry with your mental blueprints as long as you absorbed those weapons. Those mental blueprints contain all of the inner working mechanism of the weapon, parts by parts, material. Just like how I can store blueprints of all my swords in my mind. You use them to their full potential, all of them held great power behind it, just like how I did... There are a few more similarities that I could point out but I shall cut short to the point. Your missing key to your full potential." Shirou said as he gives his analysis of her skills and abilities.

Alfin stood there and listens to what Shirou has to say, her missing key to her full potential? What exactly does he mean?

"All of our hands were tied, we don't have much time or options left. But... I believe that the decision that I will make will turn the tide for all of us. I shall teach you, Projection Magecraft. Whether it is effective or not for you, that will... unfortunately be left to fate but is there anything left for us to try?" Shirou said as he looked at her directly into her eyes.

Alfin doesn't understand what Shirou is talking about but she doesn't have any choice left. This is her last shot at no fatality victory, a single death will throw this whole operation that she followed with into complete disarray. She then listens to the red Archer in front of her, taking in any information that she could cram inside and utilize.

"I don't know how much my steps will fit you but we will try. First, judge the concept of the creation. Just like swords, you are specialized with guns or anything that could technically be passed as firearms and thus can recreate it with perfect details. So pick whatever you intended to trace." Shirou said to Alfin.

Not sure what Shirou meant but she tried anyway, she looks at the Metal Gear or more precisely, its railgun. She looked at it intently, focus as hard as she could. Soon, she started to see the outline of the railgun itself, then the inner structure with increasingly more detail, small parts, working mechanics, all of them are highlighted. It is like a blueprint being drawn within her own mind and being imprinted within her memory.

"Got the structure down? If so then analyzes the composing materials that made the gun up. In order to faithfully trace a weapon down to its nearest identicality. You have to replicate the material that the gun was built from. Keep focusing and you'll get that information soon enough." Shirou said as he supervises her of how to use Projection.

She focuses, and then she started to read up the composition of the railgun itself, along with the materials that built it. She now understood Shirou's intention, the ability to create weapons by gazing on them once and recreate them from there onwards. Absorbing them grants complete insight but in cases like this, this ability will grant her the chance to use their weapon against them if she found it impossible to take from them in the first place.

"Steel, Copper, Brass, Lithium. All of them are enchanted and are used as major components for the power source, conductive rails and movable bridge made out of conductive metals. There is also an internal reloader that reloads armatures back between each shot. It takes roughly 4 minutes to fire it again but the power behinds it is tremendous that no Servant's durability can withstand." Alfin thought as she grasps the basic and overview of her internal blueprint of the railgun.

"Hold on... It is not exactly just them alone, there is an element blended completely inside them. It is A%!$ # $%^*&$ -" Alfin said before her mind suddenly short-circuited in the attempt to perceive the element and pushed her into a state of extreme agony.

"Aah!" She winced in extreme agony, statics filled both her vision and hearing as if it punishes her for delving too far into it.

"Alfin! Are you alright!" Shirou tried to calm her down as the sudden turn of events completely surprised him, that is also when he started to see the familiarity between him and her.

"That's right... I am a Sword Incarnation and thus I could easily analyze every melee weapons with no repercussion but she is more of a gun-aligned and thus can see the full details of the railgun. There is something in there, an element completely foreign to Earth itself. I got a firsthand taste of it when I tried to analyze Gil's Ea and boy did I try to walk on the nano thread above absolute annihilation. Gil's Ea belonged to an era during Genesis and thus all of its material is completely foreign to all of humanity's knowledge." Shirou thought as he tried to assess what is going on until he connected all of the pieces of information together.

"_Judgment in the color of the sky... 1942... The indecipherable element... Azure ashes... _No... It can't be..." Shirou dawned as he realized the meaning of what might going on right now.

Alfin suddenly stood up, her eyes completely turned into the color of a raging wildfire. The light of ember illuminates from where she stood as she held her two hands in front of her like trying to bring something. Shirou can only stand there observe for this is something outside of his capability. Weaving lightning sparking from the feet, the light got even brighter, the earth where she stood is cracking up from the tremendous flow of mana that is coursing through. In her two hands are forming what looks like a downsized railgun with a similar appearance to the Metal Gear's railgun as it taking form.

"She... She is intending to-" Shirou thought as he started to see what will happen if he breaks the lock that prevented her true potential.

"Recreating the internal structure. Downsizing the structure to infantry-carriable level. Sustaining capability. Replicating the material..." She whispered as she focuses on recreating the railgun as close as possible.

"Error, structure stability not reaching required durability. Usage will result in instant breakage." Alfin recited as she realized that the reason the railgun of the Metal Gear can be used repeatedly is for the fact that the indecipherable element blended within them strengthen to the point that no Servant's attack except for the strongest possible can harm it. She has no ability to recreate said material and the weapon in her hand would only strike as hard as the one that normal people put together.

However, she won't back down. If she only has one shot then she will put all of her faith in that shot. She begins to reinforce it with her own mana, like a flood pouring over an empty mountainside. Like an avalanche that engulfs everything in its path. The earth around her shatters as pieces of it float in the air, like witnessing a goddess descend into the mortal world. Her eyes are shining in a blinding light akin to a star that would blind anyone who looked at it directly. Even Shirou started to step back for the fear that he might get caught up in something even worse.

With the railgun begins to illuminating with a light that pierces the darkness, she then threw it at where she believes Arnold is. It flies true without falter like silver of light within eternal darkness.

Alfin collapsed into the ground, everything around her also falls. Shirou quickly approached her and checked her conditions. When he made contact with her, her body was emanating a burning heat that made Shirou instinctively flinched, it is like touching molten metal as a human. Mana exhaustion, Shirou could tell instantly by the heat that was emanating from her. Thankfully, someone arrived.

"Doctor! Help her! Please!" Shirou said to get Desmond's attention.

Desmond came forward without asking anything, when he touched her, he flinched for a moment but he then decided to carry her back to the safe place while ignoring the burning heat that she is emanating.

Shirou turned his head back, hoping that Alfin's sacrifice won't be in vain.

Meanwhile, Arnold is hanging onto his life by his last pinky finger. His overusing of Final Conda started to have an actual demeriting effect. The counter on the gun literally has only a two-digit number. At this point, Arnold just stalls for whatever remains for him, using the T-Gewehr for recoils knockback to evade the Metal Gear's line of fire. His left hand which he used to fire it one-handed that it is completely in ruins and the only reason it still works is that the nerves and muscles still connect. The parachutes itself is not in any better condition than its wearer, tattering like a piece of rag that still held on to this point like a miracle.

"So this how it will end..." Arnold said as he is so inhumanly tired that it is lethargic.

However, he sees an object flying towards him, one shrouded in a blinding light that is really hard to ignore. When it got closes, he catches it perfectly despite he is on the last leg. He checked what he grabbed and realized it is a weapon. His entire mood goes from despair into determined, especially when what can be described is like receiving a holy bow to take down the demon titan. He inspects the weapon to see where the trigger and ironsight are in 1 second and then aimed the thing downward towards the Metal Gear from below. However, just before he pulled it, he heard a voice in his head.

_**Don't Waste It**_

Arnold stopped himself from pulling the trigger in an instant, realizing that this might be a one-shot only weapon. If he used it in a rash manner, he'll only dig himself further into his grave. Aiming down the ironsight, with it points perfectly at the Metal Gear, his chance to fire has come and he begins to pull the trigger and-

A missile flew near his parachute and exploded which pushed him aside and broke him out of his aiming. Had he fired his shot, it would have definitely missed. And then another one, and another one... What is happening to Arnold right now is like a ball that is being juggled by a jester for he has almost no control of what he supposed to be doing. His vision is blurry, he can't tell what is real or not, his hearing is constantly ringing from the bombardment that he is constantly receiving.

The Metal Gear from below is charging its railgun and Arnold got caught into a predictable cycle of juggling and it will be his execution if he doesn't do anything about it.

Suddenly, like an epiphany, he heard a voice calling out in his mind.

_**Descend Like a Falling Star**_

Arnold realized if he is going to stuck up to the parachute, it will get him to nowhere. He then gets off his parachute and begins his freefall into the ground below from the altitude of 3500 meters. And just in time, Arnold barely avoided getting hit by the railgun as its beam incinerated the parachute. As his falling speed accelerates, he glided through the air and evaded all of the missiles and bullets as all of them flew past him.

Aiming his railgun while the gale moving through him, his aiming started to suffer due to the aerodynamics of this thing is beyond trash but who on earth would use something like this during a free fall!? Calculating the falling distance, he learned that he has a minute as best before he impacts on the ground. He needs to do take down the Metal Gear, now!

The gun shakes so much, it constantly zooming in and out uncontrollably. His own mental state is on verge of shattering and until he decided to... give up. He closed his eye and waiting for whatever his fate would be to come.

However, he felt time started to slow down, and then everything stopped moving, even him. He opened his eye only to see the darkness surrounding him.

"So... I am probably dead..." Arnold said to himself until a familiar face appeared in front of him. It was... Alice.

"Don't lose faith, whether you can do it or not, just ignore them. Let your own conviction do its job, when the decisive moment comes, your victory will come naturally." Alice said to Arnold in a calming voice and then she steps back and faded away into the darkness.

"Hey! Wait!" Arnold tried to stop her from moving away from him only to find himself grasping at the darkness.

Soon, it is just himself remains in the darkness, he realized that he shouldn't sulk himself over something like this. It's only over if he truly believes it's over. Now, this is his turnabout.

He blinked and he soon found himself free falling at the Metal Gear again. He grips the railgun tighter and not allows it to shake, he aimed the thing carefully as he came closer to the Metal Gear. And when the decisive moment finally comes, he pulled the trigger without any sorts of hesitation. The pillar of light blasted out of the gun like a morning star as it effortlessly pierces through the armor of the Metal Gear that they struggled so much to overcome. Its light illuminated the dark for a single moment but that moment forever immortalized into the memory of everyone who witnessed it. The thing soon creaked up and fall to the ground. The very once menace that everyone feared is now nothing more than a giant heap of junk.

The railgun's recoil completely stopped his freefalling and reset his falling velocity. The gun itself shattered into stardusts due to its inability to handle the power it was forced to channel. With nothing left to care, he let his own body freefall. At least, that is what he intended to happen until a shadowy figure seems approached him and snatched him in midairs. He supposed to panic but there is no hostility he is feeling and the familiarity that he felt is telling him something else. The voice that came from the figure confirmed his suspicion.

"I got you!" The voice belonged to Larry and he rocket jumped to reach him.

"Wait!? How did you!?" Arnold started to confuse as he thought Larry is in no condition to stay in combat.

"Well, I am supposed to have all my limbs broken if it weren't for Desmond catching me in midair by his unreal leaping skills. You should have seen that when it happened." Larry said as he shoulder carried Arnold to the highest building that still stood.

Both of them soon landed safely on the ground and soon everyone came to check them up. They praised him for his bravery, saying that he is no doubt deserving of the title of Heroic Spirit. Arnold can only reluctantly accept the shower of praise that is happening to him. However, there are two people that are moving towards the wreckage of the Metal Gear itself, Kiritsugu and Iri. They recovered unusually fast despite the fact that they received the most punishments out of everyone here. They wanted to confirm that the Desert Fox is truly dead. They knew that if one doesn't finish up their stuff, it will bite them back really hard.

When both of them reached the wreckage, they quickly leaped into the large hole that was created from Arnold's railgun. They peek inside the cockpit and can confirm that it is truly the Desert Fox inside. His lower legs were completely vaporized due to it was in the railgun's line of fire but he is still alive and being held on by the seatbelt. Kiritsugu knew what to do and takes out his Contender and put it squarely on the head of the Fox.

"Haha... Truly enigmatic, all of you are sure to be a powerful bunch for managing to destroy the Metal Gear..." The Fox said tiredly but still seems to be having enough life in him to joke in front of death like this.

"What are you intending to do!?" Kiritsugu yelled as he pushes the gun harder into Fox's forehead.

"I'll just say, enjoy your victory... while you're still can." The Desert Fox said before he pressed a button on the side of his seat. In an instant faster than Kiritsugu's pulling his gun's trigger, a blinding flash and disorienting noise came fort. Before Kiritsugu realized, the man in front of him is gone. There is no trace that he can detect at all.

"Damn it... Should have pulled the trigger before." Kiritsugu said as he kicked himself for letting the enemy away.

"Don't worry, at least we are safe for now," Iri said as she calms her husband down.

Both of them got out of the wreckage and return to where everyone is. However, the banter of joyful cheering has died and completely replaced by a sense of weariness and the dreading shivers that spread among them. It is like there is something is foretelling something bad is going to happen.

"What's going on? Why is everything so silent right now?" Kiritsugu asked as this sudden change of mood can't bold well.

Gudao stepped forward with a serious expression in his face. He then hands out his comm which is establishing a connection with the Shadow Border right now.

"I should have known that sly Fox would have back up plans stacked on top of back up plans. No wonder of the man who outsmarted the enemy's army. Well played..." Gudao said with an expression that one could tell things have turned for the worse without a solution for reversal.

And then the comm connected which is showing a distressed Da Vinci and she said.

"Everyone! There is an incoming ballistic missile that is heading your way! Its signal power is so high that is comparable to the lance of Rhongomaniad in Camelot Singularity!"

The Chaldean Servants' face furrowed, and then a sense of panic started to spread among others. So this is what the Fox meant when he said: "enjoy your victory while you're still can". No matter what the Chaldean might do, the Fox will win regardless. If anything, one might at least respect the ability to outsmart like that.

"Can any of you find a way to stop it!?" Arnold asked as he doesn't want to die after he put all of his effort like this.

"Back then, there was Arash in that Singularity. When the lance of Rhongomaniad came to decimate all of us, he used his Noble Phantasm to destroy it at the cost of his life. Here? We don't have anyone with that capability. In a case like this, our hands are tied." Gudao spewing out straight fact like a brick to the face.

A sense of despair now started to spread among everyone, they are facing their imminent doom without hope of escape. Among the growing chaos, there is one person who stood there in a state of complete somber. That person is Desmond Doss, he stood there whether because of the silence of denial or in a state of epiphany, nobody knows. And then, he suddenly leaped to the top of the closest building and looked towards the horizon surrounding him.

Even in the heavy rain and complete darkness. There is no mistaking the trail of flame that is flying behind it. The V2 Rocket, one of Germany's progenitor inventions during WW2 that changed how warfare works in the future, also the basis that led to the space race. But here, it is a cataclysm that threatens everyone here, he has to stop it while he could. From what he estimated, he only has 5 minutes at most.

_**Words of God: **_** _For this part, play Evangelion - Destiny_**

Preparing his stance into one of Olympic runners, he looked intently while waiting for the right moment so that he can take full use of his stamina. When that moment comes, he runs with all of his strength behinds it. The first step created a shockwave so powerful that shatters the building he started into ruins. Each step he ran on each building reduces them into rubbles.

And when he reached the end of a city block, he proceeds to make a massive jump over a large distance. And wherever he landed shooked the earth to its core and created a giant pillar of dust in the aftermath. All of this process is repeated.

Suddenly, he noticed a change in its trajectory. This can't bold well for him and changing direction right now will cost him precious momentum. That is what he thought until he seemingly noticed a crack on the ground. He then begins to stomp it with the most power that he could put into his feet. And with a single stomp, he altered the geography by making the 450 meters ahead of him completely tilted to one side. However, this is what he needed, he begins to run on the tilted ground and he launched himself off from it when he can assure himself that he is going to head to where the missile is going to land.

Burst through many buildings through head-on collisions, he landed on his two feet and using the momentum to boost his movement further. Seeing that time is running even shorter, he begins to put more force into his own feet. If he could cut short the path then he proceeds to jump on buildings to buildings and with each landing, and each jump brought ruin to everywhere he jumped and landed.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Desmond yelled as he pushes himself beyond his limit. The sound barrier started to show signs of being pierced through and then Desmond breaks through it effortlessly. When that happened, blasts of shockwave followed and shook the buildings within a radius of 3 kilometers while Desmond razing through the land itself.

Soon, he quickly stood his ground to slow down and stop right at where the rocket would land. He looked at it as if waiting for it to come, and then he held his two hands toward it in order to block it. In his eyes, only have determination. Whether he has gone mad or not. There is one thing that can be asserted without a doubt. He will defy his **fate**.

* * *

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_**Fate**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

_**Words of God: For this part, play Evangelion - Fate**_

When he braced for the rocket itself, its force pushed him back by a huge distance as he tried to stop it in its track. The results are massive cloud dust created when he tried to stop it. Eventually, he managed to hold his ground against the rocket while pushing it back. Desmond is pushing back a rocket with a payload potentially greater than a nuclear bomb.

The rocket suddenly sounds its alarm, a completely unorthodox feature that was installed in a rocket out of anything it has to be installed on. The nozzles on the rear of the rocket suddenly increase in its output as it tries to thrust through Desmond's attempt to push it back. Desmond's expression turned into something that is completely out of his characters. To see him being filled with fury like this is a complete paradox in itself.

He stomped into the ground so that he won't be pushed back by the rocket, the clash between them shook the earth itself, literally as the ground shattered by the force that the rocket exerts.

The flame created from the nozzles alone is akin to the Second Sun. It is so bright that it is blinding. But there is only one thing in Desmond's mind. To stop the rocket. To him, a true soldier doesn't fight because he hates what is in front of him but because he loves what is behinds him. That is where his true strength lies at, the ability to protect the others, not harming the others. That very strength is so great it is like Atlas carrying the world itself.

The earth shattered again for the second time, this time the rocket begins to boost its nozzle output to maximum. The power that pushing it could have made it escape the solar system before an hour passed if it weren't for Desmond standing its way, defying all odds. The light is now so bright that one would mistake it for daybreak within midnight. Desmond cried in agony as the force of rocket thrust started to ripping apart his muscle tenders.

**What will the future hold**

**How will I be rewarded**

**Have I the right to riches**

**In a world where there are no prizes**

**Who makes the clock tick by**

**When will my fate be ready**

**Do I get prior warning**

**Am I told? Are there no surprises**

Even within the extreme agony that he is in, he still held on to his faith no matter what. He has already made it through hell, so fighting against his fate shouldn't be out of capabilities. He let out a heartfelt cry as he slowly pushing back against the rocket little by little.

**I have to count my blessings**

**I have to learn my lessons**

**My fate is in the balances**

**I must go on believing**

And just when he thought he will all be alone, somebody came to help him. The large mech is pulling back the rocket from the fin, its controller is Alfin who is controlling it to the best of her ability.

And then a little girl who he can tell is Illya if he remembered correctly, except she isn't wearing the magical outfit that he remembered but the one that seems to belong to a different person. He then remembered that she keeps calling "Berserker" or something which he might believe this is the power of said Berserker which was transferred to her and altered her appearance. She joined force and pushing the rocket back with him. It is a little burden relieved from him but he welcomes any help regardless of what it is right now.

And then everyone quickly gathered around him, trying to give any help they could. But Shirou finds something doesn't feel right, like what if there is another fail switch hidden that it can be remotely detonated. He then quickly uses his Hawkeye on the rocket that is still thrusting in full speed and then he realized something is counting down within it, he swiftly cut open the outer shell of the tube and unveiled a timer within it, the thing is indeed counting down. He realized that it would set itself to detonate no matter what. That sly Fox has everything planned out and to eliminate every possiblity and now, he only has 10 seconds left. But if that is what is going to happen, he'll use the last resort. The ultimate defense. Just as when he tried to reach out for it, he heard a voice within his head.

_**Halt**_

Shirou wanted to stop but the feeling of imminent death is too much that he decided to ignore it, just as it started to take form in his hand. A person that has been missing for much of the whole battle has appeared. It is Alice! Where was she the whole time everything went down!?

She rushes forward toward them with a speed that is completely unprecedented. Carrying a tremendous amount of mana signal, is she going to use her Noble Phantasm?

"Void Field!" Alice chanted as she approached them in time.

Suddenly, there is a sense of isolation spread among everyone, like completely disconnected from the plane of reality they existed. They can still observe, interact, move in the plane of existence, but also at the same time not existing at all.

Shirou stood in pure bewilderment as he thought it is impossible to have something replicate the effect of the ultimate defensive NP that he is about to trace. He then turned toward the timer as it finally reached zero. The rocket itself detonated into a massive fiery ball that consumed anything in its flame. It felt like witnessing the sun goes supernova yet at the same time he can't felt anything at all.

And soon, everything fell into silence. Not even sure whatever is left.


	12. Death's Embrace

**Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

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_**Chapter 12: Death's Embrace**_

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His memory... is in flux, he watched the missile as it detonates and brings everything surrounding it into oblivion. Now, he not even sure if he is still alive or not, he just... feeling absolutely nothing at all. Like... he never existed, to begin with. Until... he saw a distant light in the distance. He walked towards it and soon engulfed by it. It is another piece of memory but who is it belong to? He braced himself, for whatever to come

He woke up and saw himself standing in the cellar. He recognized this place, this place is where the previous fragment of Alfin's memory ended. But why now? Why does he have to be here now? He thought solemnly for a while before he decided that if he is, there must be something important that ended up being a sharp turn in her life. After that, he quickly exits the cellar and walked downstairs.

Things are awfully quiet, despite being nothing less than a phantom in this world. Like there is something in the air that he can't quite tell what but it is making him feel the sense of dread. It makes him fear that something is happening.

And then his instinct confirmed itself when he heard the sounds of crying. Quickly following where the sounds come from he entered through the door. He saw a little boy who is lying motionlessly on the bed with a piece of rag placed carefully on his head which Arnold guessed that it is to be used for cooling the fever. He wanted to check what kind of illness he is going through but because he is completely transient in this world, his hand phased through the little boy's head. He then turned his sight on the woman who is crying as she trying to tend to the little boy's illness.

He decided to give up trying to find any way to help and proceed to find Alfin, hoping that she won't be looking so miserable this time around. But once again, not so hopeful anymore. She is looking completely miserable as he can notice a lot more scars on her than before to the point that he felt pity for witnessing such a sight like this. He checked the surroundings a bit and sees there is nothing in the pantry. Is there a famine going on right now?

The young Alfin then stands up, grabbing the ragged school bag and walked out of her house. He then followed her, hoping that there won't be anything bad happens to her.

He followed her as she goes to the hellhole that was called her school, the sky is cloudy, leaving no hole for the sun to shines. He noticed that there are also a lot fewer people around right now. To think that famine and outbreak happening simultaneously at the same time, he honestly can't think of anything that would make it worse.

He entered the town and for once again did he got proven wrong, there are stenches of death around this place, the smell of rotting emanated the whole place. He can't contact with things physically but can still sense the atmosphere around him. This depressing sight would have a toll on everyone's mental health if left like this.

He then reached her school and prepared to see the same whiplash that tortured her till now. He phased through the gate and then checked up on her classroom. It was just as he thought, not even children are spared from this epidemic for he could tell the difference between two fragments of memory. There are only a few children left, the number can't even go beyond the number of fingers on his one hand. At this point, one wouldn't exactly have the mind to study or more exactly, preaching of religion in a time like this. Within such a sight like this, God has already abandoned them.

He then waits for that failure of a teacher to come, expecting a beatdown on the poor soul that was called Alfin. However, another person entered the place, not that landwhale who abused authority. He didn't think that someone like that would enter a place like this. On a closer look, it is a man and he is carrying canvas and a stack of papers with him. He is also carrying what looks like a set of brushes and assorted paints.

"So... uh... Considering the time like this, all of you might not be in the mood for studying and I don't blame it. From what I know, the church is sending out doctors so that they can quell the outbreak to the best they could. Today, we will learn something else and it is art. So I'll give you all a piece of paper and brush so that you can practice art, shall we?" The man said as he tried to cheer the class up.

The class was silent for a while, they have a good reason to because they don't exactly want to associate with an unknown person. That is until when Alfin stood up and asked.

"Teacher? Where is our previous teacher? What happened to her?" Alfin asked in worry.

"About her... I'm afraid that she came down with a disease, or to be more precise, the rest of the staff of this school did. Not only they stubbornly remain to preach of the word of God that they have also unknowingly infected everyone around here except for those who luckily chose a day off. About the future of this school, this place is bought over and will be renovated. I am just here first to see what my students will be like." The man said as he explained his side of the story.

Alfin then reluctantly sitting down but before she did, she asked:

"Mr. Teacher... What's your name?" Alfin asked as she quickly covered her head.

"Oh dear, what happened to make you such a pessimistic person like this? Anyway, my name is Dumas. And what's your name." The new teacher replied with his so-called elegance.

"Uhm... My name is Alfin. It is nice to meet you." Alfin said as she slowly lowers her guard.

"That's a beautiful name, it is nice to know you too." The man said to her.

He then gives everyone a piece of paper and a brush, he also placed the buckets of paints on the teacher's desk and the students can dip the color they wanted. Everyone quickly gets on to what they wanted to draw except for Alfin who is staring at the piece of paper, not knowing what to do. She then burst into tears and cried. Dumas quickly intervene and checked what's going on.

"What's wrong, Alfin?" Dumas said as he approached her.

"I... I... I don't know what to draw..." Alfin said as she tried to get over her own sadness.

"Don't worry about that, not everyone gets their inspiration instantly the moment they grabbed their brushes. If it is not the things around you then why don't you put your emotions into it. Sometimes, words can't tell all of what your feelings wanted to say. When that happens, only actions are adequate. Arts is one of the mediums that you can use to express it. Why don't you let your feelings be your guide, not only you can pent up the feelings swelling up inside but also helps you master your artistic ability by a very great amount." Dumas said to his student

Alfin then weeps her tears away and picked the brush and dips the paint bucket with the color she chose. She then put all of her emotions into it, into every line and movement of her. The melancholic feelings became her drive into the painting itself. She just let all of them loose so that she won't feel any regret. Arnold just looked at her painting attentively and before he realized, he has already got captivated by it to the point that he forgot how much time passed. And before he noticed, she said done. Dumas then picked up her drawing and assess it to the best of his ability.

"For a simple drawing, this actually surpasses my expectation of how I think a beginner would be. It is a lot more stylized than how I expected although comparing it to how many other works of arts are, this thing is a sketch at best but you have the potential to widely known by the world, you know. Although this probably just me, there is something about this painting that it is simultaneously whole yet lacking something." Dumas said as he gives his assessment.

For the first time, Arnold sees a smile on young Alfin's face. That smile of her is like a light within the abyss. One that would gives a renewed hope for the future despite being forsaken for all who knows. Arnold can't help but smile that the day of her torture at the school she goes finally ended.

"And that's the day, kids. Because of the circumstances going on, we will get the day off earlier. It is up to you if you wanted to join this art class but if you wanted to, you can join with me to hone the artistic ability to your best. Now, I am off." Dumas said before he packing things up and left.

The rest of the students also did the same, Alfin for the first time not being broken sobbing mess on the floor, happily packing things up and leave the classroom for the first time satisfied. Arnold also felt the same thing, he then follows her hoping that thing would at least end in a better note.

On a lone path to her home, he noticed that the sky has turned darker than before, could be time messing with his perception. But when he got closes to the proximity of her home, his body instinctively pulled back. A tremendous sense of dread emanating from the area. Suddenly, Alfin quickly runs ahead into her home, Arnold quickly follows up and he saw her throwing her school bag into the side and climbing up the stairs.

Arnold then realized the possibility. That sick little kid who was being tended to by his mother. The possibility that he didn't want to acknowledge but considering the situation right now, he got no choice to consider it. He quickly traces his step back to the room where that little kid is being treated and... it was just as he expected. It was too late...

"No... NO!" Alfin burst in tears as she was faced with the fact of her brother's death.

That kid, he died without knowing what left behind. When did he draw his last breath, nobody knows. The depressing feeling course over the room, there is nothing but the crying of everyone's here. Her mother and sister, crying for the loss of their loved one, it was never easy to see their love one depart from them. Until he suddenly feels a cold shiver went down his spine, he then looks at the door as it slammed open in the next second. And at the door is that dastard old man, the failure of an excuse of Alfin's "father". That man has an unreadable expression on his face but one thing Arnold can tell for sure is the fury that is extruding from him is overflowing like a volcano.

"You fucking bitch!" The old man yelled with a voice that is so full of rage that it makes even the most courageous tremble in fear.

The old man then grabbed Alfin's by her hair and dragged her. And he still has the gal to drag her face along the staircase as she cried in pain. It was if she is seen as a slave, not his flesh and blood.

When the man walks by the front entrance, the dog from outside seeing its master being mistreated. It quickly lunges toward the old man and bit him in the leg. The man winced as the dog bit him until he slammed his bitten leg along with the dog on the wall. It cried in pain as the old man grabbed it by the neck and slammed it repeatedly into the wall without mercy. Alfin tried to make her "father" stop hurting her dog only to have him slam her into the wall like her dog. And then he proceeds to drag both of them into the basement where he will exact his punishment.

He then threw her into a chair then using a rope to bind her hands, legs and her necks into the chair that he forced her into. And then he shoved a piece of dirty rag into her mouth. She wanted to scream but she can't, she can't move or do anything at all but to stare at what her "father" will do to her dog.

And to rub salts into open wound, he grabbed a shovel and then bash her dog repeatedly with it, the way he did it is completely merciless. The fact that there is no limit to one's atrocity is one of mankind's greatest weaknesses. And when the dog is nothing more but a sobbing mess on the ground with the majority of its bones being completely broken, he then grabbed the double-barreled shotgun that is hanging on the wall and then pushed into her hand and forced it in a way that would make her pulled the trigger.

"You fucking cunt. If you weren't constantly sparing food for this piece of useless shit. Your brother would have enough to eat so that he wouldn't be so weak when he got caught by the disease. This is all of your faults!" The man yelled at her while acting like he didn't commit any atrocity.

Her dog is lying there while breathing weakly, the thing is in great pain and is going to die soon. And what exact basis did he thought being well-fed would give him the immunization to the disease!? That landwhale of a failure of a teacher died to this disease and a kid being fed a little more food would do better!? Her "father" is being a moron and hypocrites at the same time and only tries to justify his actions with an iron fist.

Arnold got down there and witnessed the whole thing, he clenched his fists, wanting to beat that moron of a "father" into a bloody pulp but he is just a phantom and can't interact with anything at all in this world and he really hates it. Alfin there who is being consumed completely by fear as her body shaking impulsively from the overdosing stress. She doesn't want to kill her own dog, not even when hell befalls on this world. She tried to aim the shotgun in a different direction and pulled it. The recoils knocked over the chair that she was bound into the ground. The man cursed nonstop at her own 'incompetence' while ignoring all of the sensible logic. That man has already consumed by madness long ago. He took the shotgun out of Alfin's hand and intended to kill the thing himself. Alfin tried to cry to tell her father to stop but that man has never cared about her to begin with.

The sounds of the shotgun fired and a death throe of the dog followed. Arnold's vision turned into full of blood-red and soon everything falls into darkness. For the first time, never has a memory has made him so fearful and unnerved like this. He wanted to put an end to that tyranny but it seems like it will have to be put into another time. His consciousness soon shifted from the fragmented past into reality.

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_**Growing Doubt**_

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**When Arnold woke up in cold sweat, the fiery vision is long gone, when there is supposed to be nothing left. In a crater of its aftermath, remaining the heroes. But... all of them are unscathed, by the last-second intervention that saved all of their life.**

"Ugh... it... is blinding... Wait... we are still alive!?" Shirou said as he realized that he is lying on the bottom of a massive crater with virtually no signs of harm on his body...

"Wait... What!?" Arnold said as he realized that he is still breathing regardless.

Everyone soon picked themselves up from the ground, seeing that they are at the bottom of the crater. But what makes them confused is how they managed to survive such a powerful attack like that with no sustained injury. It supposed to be the end but here they are, still alive regardless.

And then, all of their eyes are turned on Alice who is standing gracefully. Just who on earth is she? Why is she so powerful despite being in an era like this? What the hell is the Noble Phantasm that she used which is on par of age of old mystery? There are too many mysteries surrounding her that it just not making sense.

"Is everyone alright? If so then shall we be going?" Alice said in a calm voice.

That calmness of her for some reason is irritating. But also finding it calming. How it managed to contradict each other makes him beg the question.

"Yeah... We might as well as going now. They might send some troops to make sure we are dead or not. Might as well make use of the fact that they think we are dead." Kiritsugu said.

"By the way, I should at least check up on the Shadow Border, they might be bawling their eyes out by now," Gudao said as he activated his comm.

And when the connection made through, he is suddenly bombarded with a massive amount of voices that was jumbled with each other asking one same question. "Master! Are you alright!?" It makes him proud that he has so many Servants that put their faith in him but he needs to get this over already.

"Da Vinci, what is the status right now?" Gudao asked the little girl who is wearing a Victorian-era dress.

"Master... I... I was so worried that we might have been doomed. The fact that humanity's last hope might have been snuffed. It just... I was so happy to see that you are alright..." Da Vinci said while trying to control the swelling of her emotions.

"Yeah... That I know already, I am asking you to give us an overview of how large the explosion of that missile and the size of the crater that was created in its aftermath. We need to get out of here really quick since our survival can be used as leverage against them." Gudao said to Da Vinci

"Oh, about that. I calculated that the size of the blast was around 16 kilometers and the crater resulted in the aftermath was of the same, it might have been best to assume that the blast you saw was more of a massive fireball with the heat potency of 32 times greater than the sun itself. So because of that, there is virtually no chance of survival unless you used an Absolute Defense NP. So which one of you has it?" Da Vinci asked.

"From the last of those few seconds. I saw Alice cast something on us. That thing might have been the reason why we are still alive even now. I don't know if I can put all of my faith in her. There are too many unknown circumstances surrounding her that I felt I can't trust her at all. But... all Servants deserved a chance to prove themselves and so I shall supervise her whenever I could." Gudao said to Da Vinci.

"Well, good luck with that. That's all I could do to help you." Da Vinci said before Gudao turned off his communicator again.

Gudao sighed, he honestly doesn't know what he should do right now. But there still is one objective that he should focus on, always. Berlin, the heart of Reich, where all answers lie.

"Everyone, we have to move on, now..." Gudao commanded the rest of the Servant to follow him.

And so they moved together, to get out of the aftermath of the very battle that roared on through the whole day. Lightning soared from the distance, illuminating the darkness around him and shown them what has happened at that moment. It is all like a blight within one specific spot of everyone's memory.

And so they slowly moving through, perhaps they will make it to the next ring without any complications on their parts, considering they are presumed dead.

It is just all one straight forward journey towards it.

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_**Oncoming Disaster**_

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**Meanwhile at the Heart of Reich**

"Ugh..." The Fox mumbled as he lies on the floor of the teleporter room as he tried to crawl... Although he may have achieved his "victory", losing his legs is still a painful blow although the technology here is capable of rebuilding his legs soon.

Soon, two of his allies came to help him. They noticed how bad his injuries are just by looking at him alone as they tried to pull him up. Those two are Servants if there are any indications.

"Woah... What happened?" The youngster with a nameplate attached to his shirt with the word "Jager" written on it.

"They were far more powerful and smarter than how I expected, but nonetheless, I did my job perfectly." The man said tiredly as he is being carried by the shoulder.

"Guess we no longer have to worried about them, right?" The old man wearing an aviator's goggle said.

"The most likely chance is yeah. That missile when detonated will results in a fireball with the core heat of roughly 185 times the heat of the Sun and a blast radius of 16 kilometers. Not even a top tier Servant could withstand that without any Absolute Defense NP." The Fox said with a rough smile.

"And any of them who have it would have been erased by the EKS, I assumed?" The old man said.

"Yeah... I would like to go to the infirmary, now..." Fox said as he started to really feel tired.

When the two of them shoulder carrying the Fox, they once again came across that same albino lady from the last time. One can hardly mistake that snow-white hair and blood-red eyes like that. They passed by each other and the lady greeted them first.

"Nice to meet you- Wait, what happened to him?" The lady said before realizing the man that is being shoulder-carried lost both of his legs and seems to be not in a mood for talking.

"I'm sorry but we can have a talk later. Now, we need to take him to the infirmary first." 'Jager' said so that he could at least done with what he needs to do first.

"Oh... I understand then..." The lady said sadly then moves on.

Jager can't help but keep looking at her, there is something that is captivating yet he can't quite put it into words, he is a soldier, not a poet. But there is one thing noticed from her attire, he sure that he doesn't remember it being white lab coat but there is also a nameplate on her shirt that said "Scien-" for he only notices it in the last milliseconds. He could guess that she belongs to the Science Division but why does she walking around here right now.

"Oh come on, Jager. You don't lose your track in the middle of the mission." The old man said to Jager as they are about to pass the infirmary.

"Oh, sorry," Jager said as he broke out of his line of thought.

Perhaps it is best left to the future, there is no use hypothesizing without real evidence or information. He also realized how silence everything is. It felt like, nobody is doing anything of real meaning.

After both of them put the Fox on the infirmary bed carefully. They then leave the room and hope that things will turn for the better.

"So, who is on patrol duty this time around?" Jager asked the old man as both of them walked down the hallway.

"From what I know, it is... the Beast," The old man said the information to him as if it were common knowledge.

"The Beast..." Jager thought about it, the idea of facing him alone is completely madness in itself. That guy would eat you alive from a meat grinder if you dear wish to fight him.

And so they continue on. Believing that all of this has already ended. But little did they know, the oncoming clashes will be beyond any disaster that can be capable of

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_**Preparation For A New Day**_

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**Back to Chaldeans' position**

"You know... I am really started to miss that hotel but there is no doubt that the thing is gone. I really missed its bed, its comfort, and I really hate the idea of a cold hard ground for a place to sleep." Illya said as she eating the stew her brother prepared for everyone.

Everyone managed to get out of the massive crater that was resulted from the detonation of the missile. From what is reported, they sustained 'absolutely no injury' at all. On one hand, they felt thankful for Alice's help but on the other hand, they feared what she might be capable of, especially to replicate the effect of an Absolute Defense NP.

"Why does everyone give me that look?" Alice asked as she rests gracefully nearby the window.

The place that they are hiding is simply a 'small to medium' estate about 5 kilometers away from the outer edge of the crater, it still has enough room for everyone but not as comfortable as the hotel that they used to rest in. And by 'have enough room', it means everyone has to split up evenly between the buildings in the estate.

"Sigh... now, where can I go find a place to build a workshop?" Richard said as he whips out a cigarette and then ignites it.

Arnold meanwhile stares at Richard with an unamused face, to build a workshop in a time like this? However, in the next moment, he felt a shivering chill going through his spine. It is like he just got into close proximity to someone with extreme killing intents. Arnold then turned his head to his back and saw Alfin using her Soulburst Forge just to create an array of cannons and on her hand is a pistol aimed it at Richard. That eyes of her are empty like the void itself. He stared into the void and the void stared back.

"I'll give you 30 seconds to snuff that shit before I'll make the Holocaust look like a fucking joke," Alfin said with an intimidating voice that unnerved in the most mentally prepared.

Richard then panickily snuffs his cigarette out and runs away in the direction towards the basement area. Alfin then retracted all of her weapons away. She then apologizes to Arnold for using unnecessary forces like this.

"I'm... I'm sorry for acting like what you see before." Alfin apologized before she goes her way.

Arnold then stares at her back as she goes away, what on earth has made her like this to make her acting like that over something so trivial like smoking? And then Arnold realized that her 'father' might have been a smoker and it probably caused PTSD for Alfin. But still, there's something that he wanted to know about. The Holocaust. For some reason, he doesn't even know what is it. He then searched out for anyone who might know what is the Holocaust but also the same time felt like he might get egged on for not knowing it.

"Screw it. Beter be stupid for a moment than being stupid for eternity." Arnold thought.

He then comes across Gudao who is sitting on a couch. He then tried to make himself casually approaching Gudao, however, Gudao has already seen through it.

"Are you here for something? Those movements of your just feel really forced that it is jarring." Gudao said to Arnold so that he doesn't have to make himself more stupid.

Arnold then just moves and sits next to Gudao. He has a burning question he needed to ask right now.

"Gudao... What's the Holocaust?" Arnold asked straightforward.

Gudao's expression became unamused. What Arnold just asked is a sensitive matter that not everyone wanted to bring up. However, it might be better in the long run. But what also makes him felt suspicious is that the Holocaust is one thing that he is sure every Servant is aware of.

"Do you know who initiated WW2?" Gudao asked Arnold.

"Uhm?" Arnold draws a blank when he was asked with the said question.

"So it seems that only your memories are actually brought back, not any knowledge at all. Understandably then, I shall explain it in detail for you." Gudao said as he proceeds to do what he supposed to, infodump on Arnold.

"WW2 is initiated by Adolf Hitler as he declared war on Europe itself in the attempt to achieve world domination. In the process, he builds many concentration camps and pushes all of the Jewish people he found into them and execute them all. You could say this was mass genocide as the process uses majorly gas chambers and some other stuff. In the end, this results in the death of 7 million Jewish people. Supposedly. This doesn't even include mass civilians murder, human shields, and various war crimes..." Gudao said as he explains the basic overview of WW2.

Hearing about how WW2 happened, the Holocaust and everything surrounding it. Arnold gained the insight of the event itself but he can't help but wonder. How did something like this happen? Why was there no one stood up to stop it before it happened?

"Master Gudao, why did something like this happened? If a widescale war like this caused so much destruction, wouldn't one tried to stop it from happening?" Arnold asked.

"That's the point, humanity won't learn anything unless it deals irreversible damage to itself. Even in a widescale war like this. Also, if it weren't for the fact that they made Germany followed an unfair treaty that it has to cause another world war to make it revoked." Gudao answered.

Arnold then wanted to follow up on the question, the most important that he may ask.

"Do you think, that Hitler might still be alive, even now?" Arnold asked.

"That... That's a good question. Considering that the Nazis still going strong, that possibility should be considered." Gudao said.

Arnold then became silence, he has his question answered. But then, why? Why does he feel like something around is missing? Like he couldn't quite put it into words.

"Got any question to ask?" Gudao asked Arnold again.

"No, I got all of the things I wanted to ask. Thanks for your help." Arnold said before he leaves the room Gudao was in.

"Sigh, if it weren't for the fact that we have to work with each other and the fact he got amnesia, I would have preferred not to speak about WW2 at all. But perhaps it is probably for the better to revise it when I could." Gudao talked to himself.

Gudao then lies on the couch, with his eyelids started to close itself. Hoping that he'll brace himself for whatever to come.

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_**The Feeling of a Sister**_

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**Meanwhile at Shadow Border**

**_Words of God: _****_ For this part, play Fate stay night - Ever Present Feeling_**

"I have to do something, even if I can't be there to fight, I should at least giving them some insights. To the library!" Sitonai said as she walks towards the library halls.

Chaldea's original library was much bigger than the one Shadow Border has right now. Even then though, it is still more than enough for others to use it. This place is always on 24/7 for there isn't much place for writer Servants to do their stuff without being annoyed by the slightest noise. Sitonai walked slowly through the entrance and was first greeted by the librarian, Medusa. The most unexpected person you could guess to be a librarian.

"Hey, are you here for something?" Medusa asked Sitonai.

To be fair, Medusa was also a goddess before got cursed by Athena. She has the allure of a mature woman and the petrifying came mostly from her eyes which are being suppressed by the glass she wore.

"Oh, I am just here to check up on history books, especially the WW2 era. I just wanted to help my family in any way I could. Even if I couldn't be there to fight for them." Sitonai said.

"That... I understand... Very well, you can read any book here as long as you keep the place not noisy." Medusa said to the little girl in front of her.

"Thank you..." Sitonai said to Medusa as she entered the place.

She quickly grabbed herself some books regarding WW2 and then she noticed a small book that seems to be out of place compared to the other in its current place. She then pulled it out and read its cover.

"It's... a book of 1900s war heroes," Sitonai said as she realized that she actually got the jackpot.

She wondered why something like this is here and unnoticed. She then takes it along with her and placed all of them on the table. When she checked the content itself, she then understands why it wasn't noticed at all, or more exactly... ignored. The content was pitiful at best but it did have some insight and some figures but not explained properly. She has to do some real research if she wanted to get anywhere at all.

"This will be a long journey..." Sitonai said as she sighed.

In roughly an hour later of nonstop wrestling with information and knowledge, she felt so tired that she wanted to throw in the towel. She writes out all of the information on a notebook and there just still a massive amount of unprocessed information that she has to do. The fact that she actually putting in this much effort actually very commendable.

"You know, I think I'll take a break. No point getting exhausted in the first place." Sitonai said as she slowly closes the books while still keep the bookmarks on.

The feeling of drowsiness started to get her, Sitonai decided that she wanted to get a nap before doing anything else. However, before she truly fell asleep, she heard a conversation nearby.

"Hey, it is nice to see you here. You have something to do?" The voice of an old gentleman can be heard.

"It's you, Moriarty. Strange to see you in a place like this. Usually, you would spend your time plotting something against Sherlock for the sake of it." The voice of an upstanding strategist can be heard.

"Oh, you see through me completely, Mr. Waver. But it is strange to see you being here too, most of the time, you would spend it getting along with Iskandar but here you are. So what are you doing here?" Moriarty asked Waver out of genuine concern.

"You saw it through me, you know. In that singularity, our Master is facing up against an unknown threat, an enemy that can easily create weapons that overpower even many threat of previous Singularities, and even Lostbelts too. And to make the matter worse, he only has a limited amount of Servant with him, and not even the powerful one can be brought. It is precisely because of it that I felt I had to do something. You have also seen it through the observation chamber, you know..." Waver said as he felt so incompetent that he can't even directly assist his Master.

"You... Me too... You know the Pseudo-Singularity that I created intentionally so that our Master can be mentally prepared for Lostbelt? I tried to make sure that he can brave against those threats, the betrayals, enemies... And I too have unintentionally forgotten one thing in my grand equations. Our Master... he is being forced to grow up too fast for the sudden change of his life..." Moriarty said as he felt regrets...

"All those tragedies and tried to not breakdown against it. I know that he is trying to make it easy and says it is to restore humanity's foundation. But... I felt like he is trying to force himself to accept all of the consequences of all of the actions that he has done and to accept it. The fights, the deaths that they caused, the betrayals that happened. It is all too cruel for him, and the Lostbelts, even our fellow Servants started to abandon hope and the events unfolded have also scarred and broke him." Waver said with a worrying mood

"And that kid, he knew damn well that he won't be ever able to have a normal life, and if he won't do so, nobody will. I share with him my evil plots and the darkness of the human heart. But not with the intention to corrupt him but to give him the conviction to triumphant against them. To be humanity's last hope, that naive kindness of his... has to go..." Moriarty said as he worries about his Master dearly and his regrets can be felt.

"That kid's burden, it will just pile up nonstop and he has nobody to share it to. That burden one day will come crash on him. All I can really do is to back him up when that finally happened." Waver said in a sad tone.

Then the two walked away from her location, their murmurs soon can't be heard anymore. Sitonai opened her eyes and looked sadly. She then understands that not only her family is at stake but her Master too. The burden that he forced himself to carry, he will kill himself over it and when that happened, it will be the end of humanity itself. She can't let that happen. Not after being given this second chance at life and unable to repay the debt that she has for him.

She then picked up her pen again. This time, she is far more determined. This isn't just to help her family, it is to help her Master. Putting the souls of her into every word, she swore that she won't let her Master burden himself like this anymore.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Another Day**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

He is here, once again walking within a wasteland than stretching itself till the horizon. There's no living soul here, only the corpses of those that he responsible for their deaths. Whether it was someone who he not even knowing or even a Servant that fought tooth and nail against him. The sacrifice that he was forced into, he never allowed them to go to waste, for that is disrespecting the souls that were sacrificed in the first place.

"...I have become Death... destroyer of worlds..." Gudao whispered, not for anyone but only to himself...

He then stared into the pillar that was on the horizon. It is cracking, and will soon collapse. He doesn't know why it is here... Is it a euphemism of his mental health?

The pillar then completely cracked, no longer able to support this world. Everything then suddenly collapses along with it and Gudao doesn't have any care about it even right in front of the face of it.

He then fell into the darkness below the world, like descending into the abyss, and never saw the light again as he floating within it, like the only thing left at the end of his path...

**"Master! Wake up!"**

Gudao suddenly woke up, realizing that he is lying on the couch. His Servant nearby him is placing a bowl of stew near him. Gudao then wipes the sweat off his forehead then sits on the couch.

"Thanks... Archer..." Gudao said to his Servant.

"Yeah... Are you alright?" Shirou asked his Master.

"I'm fine... There's nothing to worry about." Gudao said to Shirou.

"You always say that but you in fact not, I am right?" Shirou said.

"Even if I could tell you, there is really no way that you could help me in the slightest in that aspect. Just swear to me that you will fight to the best of your ability, OK?" Gudao said to his Servant.

Gudao then reaches for the bowl of stew. Suddenly, he received a call from the Shadow Border itself. He then reaches for his communicator then answers the call.

"Good morning! Master!" Da Vinci said to her Master cheerfully.

"Yeah, good morning. By the way, how much distance left before we reach Berlin?" Gudao asked Da Vinci.

"About that, you have about 135 kilometers left. You surely have cut down the distance by a lot so don't give up now!" Da Vinci said in a cheerful tone to bring up her Master's mood.

"Well, thanks. I guess?" Gudao said before he turns off the comm.

"Wait! Let me talk to Shirou personally first!" Da Vinci said to stop her Master from turning the comm off.

"Tsk, fine..." Gudao said annoyedly before handing it out to his Servant.

Shirou then took hold of the communicator and then exit the room his Master is in. After that, he then talks with Da Vinci.

"Ok, what do you want to talk about that you can't disclose it to my Master?" Shirou asked.

"Well, this is something that our Master mustn't hear, you follow up, Shiki..." Da Vinci said before she gives the comm to somebody else. Shirou was eventually shocked by the person that Da Vinci gives to.

That person... is Void Shiki...

"Woah! What are you doing here?!" Shirou said while suppressing his surprise.

Void Shiki is no doubt the strongest of all Servants. She is the physical manifestation of the Root itself, containing boundless power with the capabilities to annihilate even Lostbelt with a single cut her blade, even Gil and Karna can't measure up to her at all. The only reason she doesn't even use her power to full potential because she is so bored with having everything handed to her. A god has no need to prove themselves, if they do, they are either lying or mad. And it is precisely because of that she is nothing more than a spectator unless things reach breaking points.

"Ok... What are you here for, Void Shiki?" Shirou asked her.

"Oh, you know... I could have easily entered the Singularity and makes everything I fight looked like a child play. However, I also detected something within it, call it insight, foresight or anything. Somebody in there has the power even measured up to me... If I were to enter, a clash between us will no doubt unfold and it will devastate the whole planet. I would say... I have finally met my match" Void Shiki said with concern for the first time around.

Shirou thinking about it worriedly, anything that warrants Void Shiki's attention is either extremely powerful or they are someone of interest. And what she said just struck both at the same time. Shirou now has to take that into account wherever he goes in this place.

"Oh and by the way, how is our Master right now?" Void Shiki then asks Shirou about their Master.

"He's... He's alright... I guess?" Shirou replied base on what he knows.

"How many times did he wake up in cold sweat or completely uncomfortable?" Void Shiki asked Shirou again.

"I don't know but based on what happened recently, he did indeed woke up in a cold sweat just a while ago." Shirou replied straightforwardly.

"Good to know then, he has been doing so since the collapse of the first Lostbelt. He is so restless that he could have broken down one day. Shirou, as your fellow Servant in arms, please keep our Master from falling to the darkness of his own heart, don't let him succumb to his innermost despair." Void Shiki said before she turns off the comm herself.

Shirou then falls silent, he knows well that his Master is carrying a burden greater than the world itself. But not only that but the fact that somebody with power equal to Void Shiki is present here doesn't make things easier. But even then, they still have to move forward. Shirou then returns the comm back to his Master and then he walked out, all he can do here is to steel his conviction so that he won't falter when he goes up against a new enemy.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Painting of Sorrow**_

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* * *

**Meanwhile in the Basement**

"Damn, this place is oddly large, was this supposed to be warehouse because there are many leftover supplies here..." Richard said as he checked the place.

Alfin also followed him and also try to sorts the whole place up.

"I wouldn't have been so uneasy hadn't you pulled that stunt like that," Richard said as he felt uncomfortable with the idea that she might pull something when he does even the most simple stuff like smoking.

"Sorry, it just, I have some sort of trauma and vendetta against smoking that it just makes me act like that. I didn't mean to make you scared of me." Alfin said to Richard.

"All is forgiven, I shall stay away from you as far as I could so that I don't trigger whatever stigma you had," Richard said as he keeps the distance between him and Alfin.

While Richard picking up another crate, he found something, two empty canvases that were placed behind, there is also some unopened black paint buckets and brushes. Alfin's attention was then suddenly drawn towards them. She slowly approaches them and then touched them with her finger, like finding something again after losing it.

Arnold who just got down there noticed that Alfin is acting strange, he then tried to get Alfin's attention.

"Alfin?" Arnold said as he tried to break her from continuing to stare at the two canvas.

"Ah! Yes?" Alfin then breaks out of her line of thought.

"You seem oddly mesmerized by those canvases. What exactly did you find about them that got your attention like this?" Arnold asked.

"Oh... It... is nothing. It just..." Alfin tried to excuse herself.

Arnold then thinks about what happened in her past. She has a thing for art, perhaps, there might be a way for him to understand her further.

"Hey, uh... Do you know how to draw?" Arnold said as he tied to pique her interest.

She doesn't want to answer, of course, nobody would talk about their past hobby, not at a time like this.

"I know how to draw too, so... do you want to-" And before Arnold spoke all of his sentences, Alfin gazed back at him with starry eyes as if she found a person with a common interest with her.

"Hey, Richard! Can we borrow those canvases?" Alfin asked Richard.

"Just take it if you want to, I got much more important things to do," Richard said as he wanted to stay away from Alfin for a while.

She then takes the two canvases along with her and Arnold also followed her. Richard then sets up the table so that he can prepare his workshop.

"I need to be able to improve my Master's armor. At this rate, he won't be able to last the upcoming trails ahead of him. But first, I need to make a mana filter first so that he could breathe here without being subjected to mana poisoning." Richard said as he setting things up.

After a while, the workshop is complete. But looking at the tasks ahead, things are just started.

"...This is going to take a while..." Richard whispered for nobody to hear.

Meanwhile, both Arnold and Alfin got to the top floor. The place has windows that overlook the surrounding areas of the estate. If one could ignore the glaring crater that took a large chunk in the distance, it would become quite beautiful scenery that can be observed from this place.

"Too bad that the rain is too great to draw with details but we could make do with a simple sketch, right?" Alfin said cheerfully after knowing that she has a fellow artist to talk to.

"Yeah..." Arnold said after he placed the canvas.

After that, they start to paint. There isn't anything that is exquisite about how they draw, they don't have the capability to make whatever they draw real. Nor using it like an illusion that its line of reality and fiction is blurred away. They are just ordinary sketch painting, draw for the sake of drawing. Nothing more...

Soon the sketch drawings are complete, there may be some flaws but they are satisfied nonetheless. Seeing the perfect moment has come, he quickly jumped in.

"Alfin, back when you were a normal person. What inspired you to draw?" Arnold asked subtlely so that he doesn't make it suspicious.

"Back then... Art was the only outlet for my emotional turmoil, so much happened at the same time. And... I am not even able to learn what love is until it is too late..." Alfin said with a hint of regret in her voice.

"Too late?" Arnold thought as he focused on the word that seems to aim for a second meaning.

"You know, if you were such a bright artist with a great career ahead, why are you a soldier, a person who directly fighting in warfare? Did something happened midway?" Arnold asked as he wanted to affirm his suspicion.

Maybe he just pushed a button that he really shouldn't have done so, seeing a tear swell from her eyes. Arnold internally panics as he thinks he is about to unleash hell on himself. However, there was only acceptance from her.

"You... you really have an insight befitting of a soldier. And... we have been through all of this together. Perhaps, I should also show you how things have turned upside down for me. Now, can you get closer to me?" Alfin said with a tone of sadness in it.

Arnold slowly gets closer to her, worrying about what she might do. Alfin then slowly touches Arnold's forehead with her own. Confused about what Alfin intending to do, he thought about trying to break free of her grasp. However, before that single line of thought was processed. A vision appeared and slowly he drifted into it. Is Alfin sharing her memory with him? He does not really know what is happening but since he has already got here, he might as well follow it to the end.

Soon, he will learn the revelation... and what Alfin mean when she said...

_too late..._

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."  
_A Glimpse to One's Past  
_**_**Blood Debt**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

His consciousness drifted from reality to the vision that Alfin created, is it another fragmented memory that he is going to see. Will he still be a phantom in this world or a person that can change her fate. He will still bet on the former but if it is the latter, he'll greet her father with an ass-whooping of a lifetime.

_**Words of God:**_ _**For this part, play Drawcia Sorceress - Kirby (Sax Version)**_

He opened his eyes and see it himself. He is back at the cellar again, but this time there are paintings hanged around here. Some are doodles that have no real purpose but some are drawings with real effort in it. She is truly dedicating herself to the path of being an artist, truly a bright future is ahead of her. He then exits the cellar and checked the whole place but to no avails. He guessed that she must have been going to school and so he followed the path that she used.

Things seem a lot more peaceful right now, at least on the surface. He doesn't know if it is just him but isn't the sky seems to get darker and darker? Not that it is important to him, Alfin took precedent.

And so he made it there, the school that she is studying in. He quickly entered the school and get to her classroom. The place is still under innovation so anyone could leave at any time. When he got there, it is all just how he expected, fortunately. It is just Alfin drawing on the canvas while her teacher, Dumas, supervises her. It is all just seems fine to him.

Well... that was until he realized that empty eye of her. Those eyes of her are devoid of life, now that he remembers what happened to her dog, something like this is obvious from the get-go. But what also struck him is that not even art is enough to help the emotional turmoil that is becoming cancerous. What he is seeing is a bomb with its fuse already activated. It will be going to meltdown at some point and everything around it will suffer.

He looked at her anxiously, knowing that fake emotions that she tried to put on will break at some point.

"Hmm, this same kind of feeling again. It is felt like missing yet I can't quite tell what it is exactly. This has been the same principal that you applied to every piece of art drawn by you. While I understand what you are thinking. That is only because I overseer your progress since day one. But I honestly can't think that anyone else will understand your idea." Dumas explained to his student.

Alfin then put down her brush, she then looked at Dumas in the eyes. In that instant alone, Dumas got shocked by that very eyes of nothingness and fell off his chair in an instant. Nobody really prepared to see that, especially from a child. And then Alfin picked up her brush again and continue like nothing happened.

How long was it since that faithful event? But he knows for sure that it left a massive impact on her soul, and it might never be able to fully heal no matter what.

He watched around for a while, and take a look out of the window. However, he noticed something, a pillar of smoke in the distance, even Alfin seems to take notice of it and stopped painting. But... the moment she sees it, she ran out of the classroom, even her teacher is confused about what's going on here. Arnold then looked at the smoke pillar and then he saw Alfin running towards it.

"Wait... Don't tell me..." Arnold suddenly realized as he put two and two together.

"It... it came from her home!" Arnold realized as he quickly also follows her path as fast as he could.

It is unfortunate that his Servant strength doesn't apply in Alfin's memory. He can see and feel the atmosphere but he can't run fast like how he normally would at all. How much time has passed? What awaits her at the end? What is exactly the truth of this memory? Not even he knows, all he could do is to stay vigilance and always on the lookout.

But when he finally reaches there, the truth was far crueler than how he thought. It wasn't her house that is burning but something else to her. Arnold stood there while seeing Alfin stares into the nothingness. Her 'father'... he is burning up her drawings, all of them made by her, made by putting her very soul into them. And he just goes casually burning them up like they were nothing but junks of incoherence lines. He then enters the house, not even knowing what he had just done, not even noticing his 'daughter'.

And the sky bursts into raindrops that fell endlessly as it extinguishes the burning piles that her 'father' created, she picked up the piece of paper that is burnt to ash. He burnt all of her hard work... because it is not what he liked...

Arnold swore that he heard something snapped as he watched her entering the house. The very Alfin that he knows is gone long ago, what is in front of him is a hollow husk of a person, with the drive made only by her own sorrow and hatred. She has nothing left to cling onto this world, the world consumed her and the only thing left that she has to cling onto was her vengeance.

The killing aura surrounding her is suffocating, the eyes of her are now nothing but true emptiness itself. She herself will kill without even paying another single thought. She approaches him slowly and silence to the point no one can detect her if they aren't looking at her.

And when he started to get down to the basement, she quickly dashes and dropkicked him in the back. The 'father' taken by surprise as he fell through a flight of stairs which each landing broke his body apart, one that he landed on his own knee right on the edge which shatters them in one blow, another when he landed on his back which cracked his spine and then finally, on his head.

The landing on the head cracked his skull and he started to bleed, Alfin who stood on the top and looking down on him. The man who brought her too much suffering and deprived her of happiness and love, this is her retribution. A debt that can only be repaid in blood. She then slammed the door and leaving him to his slow painful death.

Arnold who witnessed the whole thing unfold. Never has he felt so uneasy like this, he just witnessed her commit her first murder... at the age of 12, with her own hands. And even after she made her father paying the retribution, that emptiness within her is still swelling a cancerous turmoil.

He knew this isn't going to bode well.

He witnesses her moving away and then the vision just cut off from there, no darkness to fall into, no blood-splattered vision, it just cut off from there. Like a film that got cut midway.

And so he returned to reality, without any sort of transition, it just ends like some sort of fever dream.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**A Masterpiece Without Tears and Pain**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

Arnold returned to his reality, seeing Alfin still placing her forehead into his. He slowly broke off and so is she. It was such a stark contrast of the young Alfin and the one he sees right now. And he could guess that it is also when her future as an artist ended too. Consumed by her own darkness, there is no hope for her left to ever able to understand love after stained her hand with blood like that.

"So you finally know the truth, I show it to you because I truly trust you with all I had. I believed that you will probably want to stay away from me after seeing that. But that's okay to me. You have the right to know anyway." Alfin said before she moves away from him.

Arnold still processing the incoherent mess of information that he received but he knew there is one thing he should do anyway. To give her the happiness that she was deprived of for so long.

He quickly embraced her and held her to him as tight as he could. He couldn't bear to see her disconnecting herself away like this. Alfin stopped walking, feeling a familiar sensation that she never exactly knew what it is.

"To be trapped in a forgotten memory. Your father, a man who judges everything he knew with an iron fist. You, a child who grew without love, you begged for your freedom, you begged to be loved. Times passed, you fulfilled that wish by yourself, you became free. But through it, your frustration festered. Hatred replaced your dreams. The world enraged you for its abandonment of you and in return, you threw it into a nightmare. You wanted a paradise, made out of your idea of what you know is beautiful. A world that can't be forgotten. After all was done, can I even call you a monster or demon?" Arnold said as he tried to hold back his tears.

"Denied of love since birth. Starved of any kindness and compassion. It is only true that I am my own worst enemy who has already cast my own judgment on myself. It was my own carelessness and rejection that sprouted the root of evil within myself. Can you even imagine an outcome for a life that never knew love, that didn't end in heartbreak or tragedy?" Alfin said while she tears just flowing nonstop.

Both of them cried together, letting out all of their pent up feelings. Those tears that fall, they are real, each drop filled with emotions that would have taken a library to express through words. Their feelings are one, times became pointless to them while they are embracing their emotions with one another.

"Alfin, fear not, you will not be remembered for the ferocity that you fight against your enemy, nor the false persona that you tried to uphold so that everyone can believe that you are who they perceived but the nightmares that you had to endure while wishing for a miracle every moon for the slightest chance of kindness. In blood and paint, ink and sweat, I'll make a masterpiece that has every color but pain and tears..." Arnold said while crying due to his overflowing emotions, tears that just can't stop flowing.

"Arnold..." Alfin tried to say within the depth of her sadness and gratitude.

"Alfin... you are so beautiful..." Arnold tried to say through the mess of his feelings.

Their spirits resonated with each other and at that moment, a deep bond was created. An unbreakable bond that would have an important role in their journey.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Self-Belief**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Meanwhile in the Basement**

"Phew... I gave him the mana filter so that he can use it in the downtime. Now, how can I improve this armor..." Richard said as he inspects the armor that he placed carefully on the work desk.

While he is inspecting the armor, he heard footsteps incoming and thus turned his head towards the back. That person is Gudao who just wandered into this place.

"Huh... Seems like I completely missed this place. What are you doing there, Richard?" Gudao asked as he laid his eyes on the workshop.

"I'm supposed to improve the armor that I have given to my Master, while it can handle Azure Soldiers' attacks, they won't last long against Servant. Within the state of emergency that we are in right now, the inevitable clashing between Servants will be unavoidable and I doubt that the armor my Master would manage to outlast.

"Shall I help you? How about I contact the Casters of Chaldea to lend you a hand?" Gudao suggests as he heard what Richard said.

"Wait, why do you suddenly want to give out help right now?" Richard asked as he finds it too good to be true.

"What!? What is exactly wrong to lend a hand for a person in need? Is it wrong to make sure that we can make it to the next day with each other?" Gudao said again when he heard how Richard finds his goodwill too odd.

"No... But if you can help me then I will gladly accept." Richard said.

"Say no more" Gudao said with a small smile while he turns on the comm.

"Master, what are you asking to do?" Da Vinci said with a cheerful tone.

"Can you bring this over to the Casters, we are about to have a collaboration with this guy here. This will have an impact on the mission itself so put all your best into it." Gudao said to Da Vinci.

"Understood, I shall call them over and I could join up with to help too." Da Vinci said.

And then Gudao handed Richard his communicator and then said.

"Look, since they can't exactly come over here and help you, this will be the only window that links between you and them so just don't go and break it" Gudao said while giving it to him.

Richard was dumbfounded to see something like this in his own hand, a transdimensional communicator that must have taken a lot of effort to create. He shall not allow himself to waste such a useful help like this.

"The show is on..." Richard whispered.

"Hey! Are you the Servant that our Master talked about?" A purple-haired Servant said to him through the communicator.

"And you are?" Richard asked for he haven't met her before at all.

"Just call me Medea, you know, the Witch of Betrayal or the Witch of Colchis or the same stuff like that. I am here to act on behalf of Chaldean Casters and help you with that project of yours." Medea said.

"I did tell you beforehand so good luck." Gudao said before he draws the rayshift point on the ground before he left.

Richard sighed, he knows that he'll be working along with some odd but capable individual but he didn't even prepare for this kind of stuff.

"So where do we start?" Medea asked.

"First, I need a much better metal so that it could withstand the punishment that it would be forced to endure in this quest," Richard said.

"Which kind of punishment?" Medea asked again.

"One that could withstand a Servant's attack," Richard affirmed.

Medea stares unamused at Richard then changes her expression once again.

"Well, we actually have something like that in mind. Something that we can convert cheaply through alchemy. Paracelsus, you know what to do!" Medea said

Richard sighed, although he is having help. He isn't really that suited for collaborations like this.

"By the way, do you want solid or molten metal?" Medea asked before proceeding.

"Molten, I can make the casting molds myself. But I have no equipment to melt metal at all." Richard said through the comm.

"Okay, but you have roughly 15 minutes before the thing cool down so be fast." Medea said.

And soon enough, a small tank of molten metal appeared in the rayshift point that Gudao drew. He then prepared to recreate the casting molds that he used to create the first prototype of the armor he gave Pierce. Now, he'll have to improve from scratches.

Fifteen minutes and he has already drawn out the basic blueprint of all of the pieces within the first minute. Within another two minutes, he carved out a new metal casting molds. He then quickly put all of the parts together so that he doesn't have to spend more effort to weld them together separately.

"You know that you shouldn't rush the process like that. We can easily alchemize Quantum Particles into those metal for a cheap price so that you can put all of your efforts to make it reach the best potential that you could." Medea said.

"So what is this metal exactly?" Richard said as he tried to examine the tank that contained the molten metal itself.

"Oh boy, let just say that you will know once you cast it." Medea smirked mischievously.

Meanwhile, Pierce is sitting in the entrance to the backyard, wearing the mana filter that Richard gave him. Looking at the abandoned fountain that keeps overflowing while the rain is still falling ceaselessly. Even until now, he still not understand why he felt he has to find the truth. What is happening inside his heart that made him pressing on like this? Why doesn't he crumbled by the sheer burden even until now? His soul is an enigma in itself, it is like A+B=C, it is true according to his soul but why? Nobody knows.

Pierce doesn't feel depressed or anything, there is just something in his soul that drives him forward. Even if he is going to descend into the abyss, he ain't turning his eyes away. Such blind determination like this would get him nowhere but look at him now, the only US soldier to plunge into enemy territory like this.

He isn't questioning anything at all, it is just another call of duty to him despite his already ended long ago. All of this is just him pushing himself towards the unknown.

"Pierce..." A voice said to him.

Pierce turned around and sees a little girl nearby him, she is Alice if he remembered correctly. She then approaches him and then sits nearby him. Pierce felt a little bit overwhelmed by her own presence alone but he ignored it. He felt a little bit lonely sitting here so he strikes a conversation with her.

"So your name is Alice, right?" Pierce asked the little girl nearby him.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Alice said to the man near him.

"I have a question though, just what makes you a Heroic Spirit may I ask?" Pierce asked the girl again.

Alice then looks at him with a silent expression, he doesn't know if she finds his question too insignificant or... not even she knows.

"Alice, everyone is a Heroic Spirit for a good reason, their accomplishments in life, their feats, their ways of immortalizing themselves into history itself. You must have a special reason why you became a Heroic Spirit in the first place. So just how did you reached the realm of Heroes?" Pierce asked.

"I... I don't even know... I am not even remembering what is my childhood, or my teenagehood, or anything... All of it was just a massive hole within my memory itself." Alice said as she opens up slightly more.

Pierce thought carefully of what Alice said, she has amnesia, like another certain person he knows, Arnold. But Arnold is slowly on the path of regaining his memory. So, perhaps, she can also recover all of the memory that she forgot in time.

"So... what do you remember within that tattered journal called your memory." Pierce asked Alice for more.

Alice hesitates for a little while before continuing.

"Not much, the world that I knew was ending, everything is shaking while a single flickering light illuminating on me to keep the surrounding darkness devour me. That's... all I know." Alice said.

"That's... interesting?" Pierce said as he tried to figure out what she means.

"The world that she knows is ending... Just what exactly is that mean?" Pierce thought as he feels that he has to delve further into this.

"Alice, what is exactly your power?" Pierce asked although not expecting her to say something that must not be revealed to others.

"Faith... That is all I know about..." Alice then answered straightforwardly like it is not a secret at all.

Pierce's expectation is shattered but at least he knows that her power stems from Faith itself. But her faith in what?

"If you may ask, that faith I meant is the faith in myself, that is how my power came to be." Alice said without hesitation.

Now that is strange, her power came from believing in herself? That sounds like some cliché tropes that are overused in some genre of entertainment. But Servants themselves are an enigma in itself. A power that came from self-belief doesn't sound that asspull when considering the overall.

"So... Does your power increase the more you believe in yourself?" Pierce asked.

Alice nodded, he doesn't know if she is a person who has too much ego in her or the scaling is too ridiculous. Either way, if what she said is true then just what on earth is the power scaling of her self-belief is.

Pierce pulled himself up and started to move from the backyard entrance, Alice looked at him and also follows him.

"Uhm... Why are you following me?" Pierce asked.

"Nothing..." Alice said.

Pierce then took a few more steps and still sees that Alice is following from behind, not even the distance between them changed. Pierce then gives up caring about her then just walks down the aisle to the kitchen.

The aroma there smells so good that he couldn't help himself but to taste his own saliva in order to quell the hunger. He entered and saw a familiar red Archer who is attending to cooking duty. Apparently, he is stir-frying some diced onions.

"Hey, what are you cooking?" Pierce asked.

"Oh, I was about to make some curry. Shadow Border sent some stuff over so that I can cook them. Because it is a one-way delivery, don't waste any food that I cooked for all of you." Shirou said.

Pierce looked at the large pan that Shirou is using to stir-fry the chopped onions, looking at it while Shirou sautés them until they become golden. Back when he is still in the army, the chef is without a doubt one of the most important people in a platoon. No army can run on an empty stomach and this applies to anything. You piss the chef off and he will starve you to death. Anything army related is exhausting and consuming and without an intake of energy, you will die not to any enemy but your own ego. That just goes to show how important a good meal is to him.

And before he noticed, he saw Alice approaching Shirou from the back and pulls the clothes so that she can catch his attention. Shirou noticed and turn towards the back.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Shirou asked Alice.

"Oh... I just... wanted to help you with cooking lunch..." Alice said with a calm tone.

Shirou thought for a bit and then said with a smile.

"Ok then, why don't you help my sisters with preparing other ingredients?" Shirou said to her while pointing his finger to the side where his two other sisters are.

Alice approaches them and Illya cheerfully said to her when she noticed.

"Hey! Are you here to help? We have something for you to do!" Illya said with a cheerful tone.

"To be fair, the reason we not doing it fast because by doing so, we tend to overexert our strength ended up crush the ingredient into nothing. So sorry if you feel tedious if we turned out to be doing it too slow for your liking." Kuro said as she grates the garlic carefully so that she doesn't accidentally destroy the utensil along with the ingredient.

And what is presented in front of her are four tomatoes and a kitchen knife, she picked the knife up and then tossed the tomatoes slightly upward. In the next moment, all of those tomatoes were diced into pieces before even anyone realized, even Shirou himself didn't pick it up. She made one single slice but it just dices all of those tomatoes into pieces that would have otherwise taken a few minutes, and it is so fast that not even Musashi or Munemori would catch it. Even Sasaki Kojiro would call bullshit on it.

"Excuse me, what the fuck!?" Shirou said as he just noticed that the tomatoes were diced perfectly to the point he would have assumed it was diced normally if it weren't for the fact that it took not even a second to do so. Applying Servants strength on normal ingredients like this would disintegrate it into nothingness. Just that alone proves how much control she has over her own power.

Servants usually have two modes, being a normal person and the other is... ANNIHILATING EVERYTHING IN THEIR PATH. Most Servants can't display the perfect ground between them and here she just makes it look normal.

"I have to say though, what you did was remarkable but can you not making me freak out like that?!" Shirou said as he picked the cutting board that has the diced tomato up.

"Anyway, maybe I shouldn't do this but perhaps you can take over the curry cooking process?" Kuro said.

Shirou tried to protest in doing so but he also felt that he should give her a chance. At least he can redo it if it failed. Nobody poisons his food or making anything unethical with it under his supervision. No one.

And then he changed place with Alice and he quickly got it done with the ingredient. Now it is just the job of mixing them together. Sliced chicken breasts, curry powder, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and keep cooking all of them together until they become golden. After that is just pouring water at the right time and wait for more.

"I see that you know what you are doing. It seems that I was correct to believe in you." Shirou said as he observes her.

"Hey, since we are about to enter the last steps, can I have the honor of doing it?" Illya said as she holds a bowl of coconut cream in her hands.

Shirou gave her the approval and Illya happily gets closer to the pan so that she can pour the coconut cream into it. Shirou then grabbed a bottle of spice that is labeled 'Garam masala' and carefully take half a teaspoon of it and put it into the pan.

"So what are we cooking exactly?" And then Alice asked, right after she finishes cooking.

Shirou wanted to facepalm when she asked that question, especially when he had already said it out loud for a while ago. He thought she knew what he is cooking but it is too late right now. Decided to forsake his fate up to heaven, he test tastes it. In the next moment, he finally felt something that can only be equated into... heaven's feel. All of his taste buds are dancing like they are receiving the blessing of the divine and he can't help himself but smile.

"For someone not knowing what they are cooking. You actually did very well beyond my expectations. Although this was more of a team project, you did most of the core works and thus should be rewarded for it" Shirou said with gratitude in his tone.

Illya and Kuro got curious and then also take a test taste of it. They too also smile cheerfully when they got a taste of the same heaven's feel itself.

"Oh my god! This is so great that I literally have no word in my vocabulary that is capable of describing how good it is" Illya said as she cries tears of happiness.

"Me too, sister! Seriously though, just who are you that you are so wise in the way of culinary?" Kuro said as she praises Alice for her culinary skill.

Alice doesn't say anything, although one could read her expression that she is a little happy.

"Either way, our Masters will surely have a one of hell of a treat waiting for them." Shirou said as he prepares the curry.

Pierce who sees the entire cooking process hardly able to control his desire to taste that godly curry. And then he remembered that he can't eat them while wearing the mana filter and he suddenly lost the appetite right away. Quite a mood whiplash that he just went through in just a few seconds.

"Don't worry about that, we can call the Shadow Border so that they can send over the repellers to ward off the mana in the atmosphere," Kuro said so that she can calm the saddened Master.

And so everyone met up to have their lunch, it was quite needless to say that the lunch was a great success. Before they realized, it is already late afternoon.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Adamant Strength**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**At the basement, late afternoon**

"So why do you want me here? Is there something that you want to talk about?" Pierce asked his Servant.

"I am here so that I can give you a look at the improvement that I have given to your armor and armaments," Richard said as he unveiled the sheet that covered the something.

Pierce found himself surprised, he never thought that his Servant would find a way to improve his gears beyond what he thought to be the limit, but he got proven wrong and he glad that he did.

"This armor has been reforged with Adamantine and enchanted and engineered to the level that it could withstand a Servant's attack. Let me demonstrate for you." Richard said as he lifts the armor up and placed them somewhere that is a bit more open.

And then he took out his Gatling gun and begins to fire at it rapidly. The impact of each bullet on the armor created a huge shockwave that shook the basement and Pierce can't help himself but crouch to the ground so that he doesn't tumble over.

In about twenty-five seconds later, Richard stopped. He checked the armor and it is just as much as he expected, at pristine condition like nothing happened. Pierce got closer and he finds it hardly believable that it just withstood all of it and not even dented.

"To be fair, I toned down my power a bit but just as you see, the armor withstood them all. Now you have no need to fear getting killed by an enemy Servant unexpectedly. You can try it on right now too" Richard said with confidence while patting on the armor.

Pierce then reached towards the armor and soon wearing it. It is still as comfortable as much as how he knew it, the mana filter completely replaced with a built-in gas mask that would protect him even in the most hazardous atmosphere that would otherwise kill a normal person instantly. It simultaneously converses liquid molecules into oxygen if its user is underwater or any liquid-based environment.

"So what changes did you make other than this gas mask?" Pierce asked.

"Look at under the right wrist and you will see a secret built-in contraption that only you can activate, it is called a Grappling Hook. Built with Adamantine threads and hook, they will cling onto any surface that you can fire within 15 meters around you. Very useful when you have to reach out to a distant location." Richard said proudly himself.

Pierce doesn't know how to operate the Hookshot under his wrist but when he aimed it and thinking about firing it, the hook fired and clung into the wall and pulled Pierce into it. He then braced the impact on the wall and then he realized that he actually cling on to it.

"I also made it so that when you stick to the vertical surface, you can keep clinging onto it thanks to the Chaldean's special magnetic gauntlets." Richard said.

Pierce knew one thing for sure about this, he will be able to fight more on equal ground with a Servant although it might be more recommended not to unless there is no other choice.

"So is there anything else that you have also made?" Pierce asked Richard while he is still clinging onto the wall.

"How about you jump off from the wall and do it again in midair?" Richard said with a joking smile.

"Jump off in midair? Considering what others are capable of and the fact that everything surrounding me is supernatural. This is literally the least strange thing that could happen." Pierce thought while clinging to the wall.

Pierce then jumps off the wall and while in midair, he thought about jumping again and then suddenly the boots that he is wearing suddenly pushed him upward. He then quickly balance himself again and landed on his two feet.

"Damn. Do you really think of all of this? Not even in my wildest dream that I could see someone create such an advanced armor like this." Pierce said in surprise.

"That is the effect of the Thrust Boots that you just saw. They allow you to jump a second time in midair. While the push may not seem much, they are still useful in the situation that it may demand. However, all of those gadgets on the armor is not just mine alone, it is only thanks to the Chaldean Casters that their helps managed to make all of these possible." Richard said to him.

"Wow, to seems that there is a way to improve such armor to such a level like this. It all just seems unreal. I would lose my mind if there are-" Pierce said

"There's more but using it here will cause unwanted destruction. You don't want to sleep beneath the rain without a roof to cover, aren't you?" Richard said his warning.

"Yeah, maybe we will test them outside. Can't destroy the only resting place we have." Pierce said in fear that if he suddenly makes one false move that he will end up break the whole place down.

"Hey, you said you had also improved my armaments too. So what are the changes with them?" Pierce asked his Servant.

Richard then gives out a two heavily modified M1911 now reborn in Adamantine. They shine with color of gray silver and a lot of aesthetics carvings, they also have a lot of attachment and modifications built into in order to bring out the best capability. A high-extended magazine on each pistol, muzzle breaks on each, reflex sights. Each gun also has heavier grips, longer barrels and all rigged to fire full-auto. And to add a cherry to this, the bullets fired from these are explosive like how Richard's HE Anaconda is.

"So, have any idea of what you want to call them?" Richard asked.

"I have an idea for them, Desperado. These babies are more dangerous than anyone could suggest, the very idea of using them are just simply daredevil itself. But you know one thing for sure, Richard. I have already descended this far into hell, if so then why should I shudder at the fact that I could get caught in its blast? Anything could have killed me right now and the fact that I am here is already risking my life on 24/7. I am not just accustoming myself with risk, I lived in it." Pierce said while juggling the twin pistols between his hand.

"If that is what you would say with the pistols alone then would you be happy to see the greatest improvement that I made to the machine gun that you brought along." Richard said with a smile as he brings out the crate and then opens its lid for Pierce to see.

Pierce stuck simultaneously between happiness and disgust when he finally gazed on it. While he glads that the weapon he has is far more powerful if Richard is right but on the other hand, he just fucking chimerized his BAR with an M1919 machine gun. Now, it looks like something entirely different.

"Richard... What the fuck?! Where did you get that machine gun from?!" Pierce said in disbelief.

"I found it in a crate that I sorted the place. Finding and learning the working mechanism, I enhanced the weapon and combined it with your BAR, and then reforge them in Adamantine. Now with a firing rate ranging from 600 to 3000 RPM, they will make short work of your enemy no matter who they are.

Pierce felt the change that Richard did to his trusty gun was too sudden that he didn't get used to it at first. He examined the gun to see what is changed. The stock is indeed from the BAR, the gun receiver, barrel and firing mechanism, and the shape definitely belong to the M1919, the bipod belonged to the BAR. All of those have aesthetics carvings and glowed with that same gray silver. If there is a simpler explanation, think of an M1919 machine gun with BAR stock and trigger.

"Sigh, whatever, why don't we test them out?" Pierce said as he walks around the basement while thinking about what he just sees.

"Then shall we go?" Richard said.

"Yeah..." Pierce sighed as he gets out of the basement of the building.

And so they will test out the capability of this reforged armor. Holding limitless capability, will this armor holds up to the trials ahead of it or will it be shattered along with its user? Only time would ever tell.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Forewarned Knowledge**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Meanwhile on the top floor**

"Onii-chan! I have attempted to do research about your potential upcoming enemy. It might be lacking but I did my very best!" Sitonai said cheerfully through the communicator of Shadow Border.

"Thanks for your effort, I guess?" Shirou said through the communicator that his Master lent him as he skims through the research paper that his sister has given to him.

"By the way, I sent over an old film projector and some film reels so that you won't feel bored if you find that there is nothing to do. They have something written on them and it said "Charlie Chaplin" so I guess it must be good then. All of them are deposited in the rayshift point so that you could find them easily" Sitonai adds in.

"Uhm... Thanks?" Shirou said in a confused tone as he guessed the things might have come when he was looking at the research paper.

And suddenly the door slam opened and he saw that Arnold is carrying a film projector and Alfin is carrying the reels. Arnold placed in on the table and then aims the projector towards the wall, Alfin then puts one of the reels into it.

Shirou sighed, he can get why they would do it at a time like this and hell, he would enjoy it too, haven't for the fact that there is something in this Singularity whose power is comparable to Void Shiki and his Master's wellbeing is at constant risk of breaking down at any moment notice. All of them are weighing down in his mind and he can't shake them off for his sake.

"Hey, what are you reading here?" A familiar voice is said to him.

Shirou turned his head around and find that his Master is talking to him from behind.

"Archer, what are you reading?" Gudao asked his Servant.

"It is just a paper that listing all of the possible candidates of war heroes in this era, but it is still-" Shirou said before Gudao snatches the paper from his hand abruptly.

"Just!? That is one most important thing that I need right now!" Gudao said as he reads the paper on his hand.

"-incomplete..." Shirou utters the last part of his sentence before he met with a disbelieving disappointment gaze from his Master.

Gudao then looked at Shirou with an unamused and disappointed gaze before he reaches back for his composure once again.

"Either way, this is still some good insight on the possible enemy that we might have to face in the future. I am still going to thank you regardless." Gudao said before he gives the piece of paper back to his Servant.

And as Shirou watches his Master exits the room. He then looked back at the research paper and then he suddenly looks towards the window and seeing the rain outside going ceaselessly. He felt something doesn't feel right here, like something extremely subtle that most Servant maybe except for his father can't pick it up. He then looked at the paper again as if to see if there is any clue that can give him some further insight right now.

A burst of laughter then broke Shirou out of his thought, he then looked at where the trio is sitting as they watching 'Charlie Chaplin' movie. They seem completely enjoying whatever they see there.

"Perhaps I am just being too paranoid here. If that thing was what Void Shiki mentioned then it would have already triggered my 'fight or flight' instinct" Shirou said as he also exits the room, leaving Arnold, Alfin, Alice to enjoy the little world they in.

Even when he pushes away that thought, he can't help himself but worry about what they are about to get into. He just can't get over the sense of dread that his feeling can't dispel of. And the rising feelings, are the premonition of what to come.

* * *

_**Servants Profile**_

**_The Saint of Distant Wartime._**

**_Class:_****_ Ruler_**

_True Name: Desmond Doss_

_Parameter: Wise up!_

_Str: - (EX)__| Agi: B+ __| End: A+ __| Mana: E __| Luck: B__| NP: B+_

_+Passive Skills:_

_-Magic Resistance B: Having a Ruler class container, Desmond has a high magic resistance innately. Due to being a Modern Servant, his magic resistance was limited to B_

_-True Name Discernment C: If summoned as a Ruler, during a direct encounter, a Servant's true name and entire status information will be automatically revealed. In regards to Servants with concealment abilities, a Luck Check is required to bypass those abilities._

_-God's Resolution A: A_ _Class Skill of the Ruler __class and is the privilege of the Ruler presiding over the Holy Grail War; the right to use Command Spells against Servants, only given to Rulers. Each Ruler is normally granted two Command Spells for each Servant that participates in the Holy Grail War. In the situation Desmond was in right now, this skill is useless._

_+Personal Skills:_

_-Backline Extractor A: A skill that allows Desmond to extract someone from danger successfully even if enemy Servants are pursuing him and his patients._

_-Protection of Faith B: A skill possessed only by those who have made sacrifices for a religious view. Despite being a form of divine protection, it is not a blessing from a higher existence. It is the absoluteness of one's body and mind that was born from their beliefs._

_-Undying Will A+: A skill that is similar to Battle Continuation, except that this skill is unique to him for it boosts his Endurance to EX temporarily for when he is saving someone or under attack from a hostile enemy or received grievous injuries._

_-'The Strength to Protect' EX: A skill that sublimates from Desmond's will alone, his story has many inhuman feats involving his unyielding will to save everyone who is stuck there. There is saying: "A true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him but for what he loves behind him.". This is where his true strength lies when facing against a crisis that has great negative effects on him and his allies, his Strength parameter will be temporarily boosted to EX in order to prevent said crisis from happening. However, said strength when used against an enemy directly will have no effect whatsoever._

**_Noble Phantasm_**

**_|Hacksaw Ridge|  
Where All Reach Breaking Point._**

**_Rank B+| Classification: Anti-Pursuit_**

**_A Noble Phantasm that allows Desmond to alter the land through the power of reminiscence to where his name is made. The battle of Okinawa where the most bloody battle in the Pacific Theater taken place. The barren land of Okinawa boosts all of Desmond's parameters except Strength and hindering the enemy should they aim for heavily injured allies or him by an artillery strike that has the power of B+ NP that was aimed at them. This Noble Phantasm actually not kept by Desmond's mana but by the power of God at his side as ridiculous as it sounds. It is made for one purpose and that is to extract everyone out of danger alive should they all failed somehow._**

**_|Healing Hand|  
Curing What Is Thought Impossible_**

**_Rank C| Classification: Anti-Fatality._**

**_A Noble Phantasm that allows Desmond to treat and surgery on his patients with a speed that is even beyond the eyes of Servants. It is thought that those of the descendants of Asclepius are capable of doing this and this power also brings the ability to cure even incurable disease, curse, and even near-fatal wounds._**

**_|Divine Intervention|  
God's Salvation_**

**_Rank A++| Classification: Anti-'NP Activation'_**

**_A Noble Phantasm born from Desmond's feat at one of the bloodiest battles in WW2, Okinawa. There were many moments that could have killed Doss but he has managed to survive all of them and thus his story is nothing less of divine intervention. This Noble Phantasm prevents the activation of other Servants' offensive Noble Phantasm that is targeted on him or his allies. Any NP with rank below A will fail to activate instantly, A+ will make a Luck check on the other opposing Servants, A++ will make both Desmond and his opponents has to make Luck check. Any higher and this Noble Phantasm will fail to counteract against._**

**_The Mysterious Girl_**

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Class: Rider?**_

_True Name**: **__"Alfin?"_

_Parameter:_

_Str: __B__| Agi: B __| End: __B __| Mana: __A+__| Luck: __D__| NP: Unk  
__Wise up!_

_Passive Skills:_

_"Unknown"_

_Personal Skills:_

_-Animal Communication D: Born from her own love with animals and close affinity with them at a young age and even until now. She could understand what the animals are trying to say to her even if no one else could understand_

_-Soul-burst Forge A+: The ability to turn pre-existing scrap metals or mana into the user's predetermined shape and structures and inner working mechanism. This includes firearms, melee, tools and everything of all sorts consists of metal components. Other components can be created with the user's mana with increased cost__. _

**_Noble Phantasm_**

_**|King Tiger|**_

_**The Steel-forged Terror**_

_**Rank A| Classification: Anti-Unit**_

_**A beastly manifestation of the widely known tank of WW2 that left those who faced it and escaped its presence an unforgettable nightmare. The King Tiger's appearance took the form of how they were seen by the enemy that was misfortunate enough to face its wrath head-on. Its front hull can take massive damage before it starts to show signs of being damaged. It is linked directly with its user and can take command and follows it with absolute accuracy and no delay, allowing it to decisively strike its enemy down. The user can also ride on the King Tiger and allows it to soak up the majority of the oncoming damage should there any need that requires of it.**_

_**However, the King Tiger despite having such extremely high strength, its mana consumption is also as high as its power. It is unrecommended to use for long-term combat unless having the mana required to do so.**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Unknown Maiden**_

_**Class:?**_

_True Name:__ "Alice?"_

_Parameter:_

_Str: Unk__| Agi: Unk __| End: Unk__| Mana: __Unk__| Luck: Unk__| NP: EX_

_Passive Skills:_

_"Unknown"_

_Personal Skills:_

_"Unknown"_

**_Noble Phantasm_**

**_|Void Field|_**

**_Boundary of Nothingness_**

**_Rank EX| Classification: Absolute Defense_**

**_A Noble Phantasm that involves the act of separating the user and the targets from their plane of existence by isolating them into a higher dimension. It can be used repeatedly without repercussion, apparently. This form of protection can protect its user and chosen target from attacks up to fifth-dimension._**


	13. Rising Tides

**Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Chapter 13: Rising Tides**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

Shirou woke up, feeling not completely invigorated at all. Although Servants don't have to sleep, conserving and recharges their mana is still an important thing to do. He then steps out of his bed and what happened next completely out of his expectation.

*splash*

"Huh?" Shirou thought as he sees water completely filled the floor but not reaching the bed itself.

Were there some sorts of flooding? But it rained for the last many years and it started flooding now of all the time? Shirou realized that something isn't right and he quickly steps out of his room.

The room that he chose to sleep is on the ground floor which is probably why he noticed that it is flooding this early. Base on the light of the window, it mustn't even daybreak yet. Something is happening and he has to do something quickly. He then jumps straight to the second floor and entered the lounge that his Master is staying. Contrary to what he expected, his Master is completely awoken.

"Master! Something is-" Shirou tried to say before Gudao puts his palm on Shirou's mouth to stop him from talking.

"I know about that! This sudden flooding can't be anything nice at all. I noticed it when I tried to walk downstairs to search for the bathroom only to be greeted with this slow rising tides of water. Or more precisely, seawater." Gudao whispers to his Servant.

"Wait!? You tasted it?!" Shirou whispered.

"Believe it or not, I quickly spew it out the moment it reached my tongue, it is not simple saltwater but in fact having the stench of death within it. I'm afraid that this is a doing of an enemy Servant. If you asking for the time then it is midnight right now." Gudao whispered with suspicion in it.

"Shall we wake up everyone and warn them about this?" Shirou said.

"Yeah, this is a contingency situation and we have to act now. This place isn't safe anymore." Gudao said.

And quickly heeding his Master words, he quickly wakes everyone up one by one. When he reached the top floor and entered the 'meeting room', he found out that Alice is still watching those movie reels while Arnold and Alfin have already fallen asleep. He then wakes them up and then shook the little girl who is still watching it. It seems that she was completely captivated by the film itself.

Soon afterward, he had everyone gathered in the meeting room on the top floor. His Master then tells everyone what might be going on right now.

"So we might have already been spotted?" Larry asked with a furrowing expression.

"I don't know, this might have just been a passive Noble Phantasm and our Master haven't been affected by it even now. But still, it is best to be on alert-" Shirou said before he noticed his Master is acting strange.

"Something is smelling... It is... fire!" Gudao said as he started to notice the smell of burning.

Shirou realized what is going on, he then quickly bursts through the wall of the building and jumped from the top floor. It was as his Master suspected, they have been spotted. Flamethrowers gathered around the place and burning the whole place down faster than an inferno burning away a 'lone tree'. Before anytime passed to him, tracing his bow and unleashes his barrage of arrows down on the enemies below. Faster than an electric-driven machine gun, he erased all of the flamethrowers beneath and signaled his allies of what to come.

They quickly followed him and they watched as the estate that they used as a shelter burning down into burning ruins. The flamethrower quickly tried to get them but they were all obliterated before they could direct their attacks.

And then everyone stands there, watched the burnt down ruins of their former shelter. Now, it is clear that they will have to fight through this one and they can't afford themselves to falter anymore.

And so, they begin this new operation against the new enemy in their faithful encounter.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Darkest Hours**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

Everyone is now moving fast as they could but they have no idea where to go exactly. The only person who could see in true darkness is Shirou with his Hawkeye activated, everyone else can only see the 5 meters ahead of them and it just cut off from there. Shirou could tell the surrounding but he can't keep acting like the eyes of the group if he wanted the team to act optimally.

Echolocation is impossible, the loud and ceaseless splatter of raindrops on the water surface completely drown out every other sound. The best they could do is wait for a bolt of lightning to illuminate the surrounding for a brief moment. At that moment, they will memorize the surroundings as best as possible.

"Everyone, I think there is something within the sounds of the rain. Is... the creaking of gears!" Shirou said as he tried to look for where it might be.

Alice then casually snaps her finger and an explosion of azure flame occurred right behind her. Within the next moment, it is just a burning heap of scrap in the color of azure. Once again, there is just no end to the surprise of her. They remembered how much it effort it took them to destroy a Panzer and Alice just snaps her finger and it is gone. It was just about to sneak up and attack from behind but she just gives it a metaphor middle finger. At this point, they find her power is too good to be true.

Self-belief and confidence in oneself is simultaneously a strength and weakness. It allows you to reach a new limit and beyond what you would think it would be possible in the first place. But however, overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer, cases of major figures died because of their egos are rampant and shouldn't be ignored.

"I think we just alerted the rest of the patrol stationed here, not that there is any way to run away from this fight in the first place. Everyone, prepare to bring them hell!" Gudao said as he roused everybody's spirit up.

And so everyone quickly jumped into action, Shirou advises everyone of where the enemy is coming based on the layout he perceived. Kiritsugu fired his flaregun at the ground ahead in order to give the slightest amount of light in order to give more vision. Irisviel formed the steel wire edges and launched them towards the incoming infantry units that the flare managed to shines on.

Five meters of vision within darkness is a massive boon for a normal person but for Servants, that is a huge blindspot. Many Servants don't fight hand-to-hand combat but resolve to ranged warfare. Five meters in complete darkness is an unimaginable disadvantage for Servant's combat against such other Servants like that. What if there is a hidden Servant in the darkness and they are prepared to fire the kill shot? That moment would be a disaster waiting to unfold.

Arnold tried to chant the poem that has given him the ability of true sight from back then. He doesn't know how long it will last but it is definitely useful in a time like this.

_Relieving all of what I been through  
With the last communion of my souls-_

Before Arnold chanted halfway through, he heard Alice saying something.

"Shine... Illuminate!" Alice chanted her own spell.

And in that instant, his vision completely cleared up, no more darkness, all is laid bare to see. He sees everything with true detail as if he suddenly got thrown into a studio where they turned on all of the light they had. And then he turned around to his allies and suddenly they all battle with efficiencies that is completely unseen compared to the last time that they fight like this. Did this power extend not only to him but also to everyone else?

And just when they thought it would be hell to fight amidst the darkness. Suddenly, the only thing they worried is removed like pulling back the curtain in a dark room when the outside is daytime.

Soon, they decimated the incoming enemy before a minute passed. They seem to have some sort of night vision on them but it seems to not on the extent that can reach like what Alice cast. Everyone then retracts their weaponry, thinking that they might be safe for now. They need a plan that is suitable for what they are about to get into.

"So what do we do now? Just senseless killings won't get us anywhere." Shirou said.

"We will get to the fourth ring, fast. The enemy is wanting us dead and we can't afford to fight them continuously like this. Just remember the last fight against Erwin Rommel and you will quickly cast off the idea facing whoever the Nazis sent head-on." Gudao said as he moves forward.

"Master! I think we are missing two people..." Kiritsugu said.

Now that Gudao realized that there are two people missing, Pierce and Richard. He realized he can't leave them behind, they are already having trouble making it through this amount of manpower, having any less and disaster would ensue.

"Then prioritize finding them first! After that then we will bounce off this place and head for the next ring. Check for any anomaly, we have been given the gift of true sight and so don't waste it! Shirou and Kuro, follow and accompany me. Everyone else, split up evenly and search for them!" Gudao said as he sets off.

Shirou and Kuro followed their Master while the others split up. Their paths may differ now but all of them will lead to one same objective, finding Richard and Pierce. No man left behind.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Crisis Core**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

The sounds of rapid-firing machine gun were heard, it came from the man wearing an armor made out of Adamantine and firing his chimeric gun that was built from multiple different gun parts. He personally called it, the Chimera's Stinger. The bloody thing fired bullets with a firing rate that makes it look like a storm that was unleashed upon. He held onto it by the carrying handle while the other hand is holding onto the trigger like there is no tomorrow left. Not that he is wrong about there is no tomorrow left for him though.

Infantries came rushing in like a white-headed tide. His bullets just pierced through them almost effortlessly while their attacks are so pitifully weak that it just bounces off him like nothing. He for some reasons also sees things with a completely clear vision with no darkness to hinder. This also applied to Richard who is firing his lever-action rifle with a rapid speed that overrides even machine gun.

A Panzer approached and it begins to fire the machine guns at Pierce, he stood there tanking them all, swatting them off like nothing. It then begins to activate the cannon and fired it at him. Servants can deflect or even tank the machine guns that the Panzers may fire but no one in their right mind would try to tank a tank shell that is charged to deal nasty damage even to Servants. Because of that Richard quickly disengages and prepared to act accordingly.

The shell flew towards Pierce but he still stood there without even falling back or doing anything, he just confidently bracing for it as if he is sure it will do nothing to him. An explosion then followed with its shockwave created a huge smoke cloud. Richard then prepared to draw his HE Anaconda again and fired repeatedly at the Panzer, he then activated the built-in detonator and soon the Panzer blew up with the bullets stuck onto it.

The smoke soon cleared up and it shows that... Pierce is still remained unharmed, not even a tank shell into the face even make a single dent on him. That's the testament to the incomparable defense that the Adamantine armor shown for everyone.

Another Panzer shows up but this time, Pierce took the initiative and used the Grappling Hook onto the arm that he knows for sure is where the cannon is. The hook stuck into the arm and he took his chance

"Magnetic Charge - Accelerate!" Pierce thought as he pushes his heel into the ground and pulled the hook cable back with the enhanced might that the armor gave him.

And within one fell swoop, he ripped the arm of the Panzer off it. Making use of the momentum, he spins around and smacks the Panzer with its own arm which ended up heavily crumped the upper torso. No chance of survival there for the unfortunate victim.

"You seem to get down more of the basics now. You'll soon master the armor and reach its full potential soon." Richard said as he approaches him from the back.

"There are so many new features that got installed, it seems that the sky is the limit when it comes to you, right?" Pierce said as he turned around to see his Servant.

"It is not just me, it was the help of Chaldea that all of these are possible," Richard said as he picks up the pace.

"Yeah, but base from how many of them right now. I think that we might have been exposed." Pierce said.

"Good call, but how on earth did we got spotted after being assumed dead? This doesn't make any sense at all." Richard said.

While running, they looked up at the sky and realized that there are some fighter planes that move with extremely high speed in the sky and they are firing at something. And then one completely blew up in midair without anything to tell what has hit it.

"I think it is crystal clear that we got busted already," Pierce said.

And then Richard notices one that is diving at the alley they are running. He took a closer look while still running and realized that its wings are gone and the whole thing is burning. The thing is going to crash at them.

Although Pierce could tank them easily, it is unclear if there are some sorts of limits into how much things that Pierce's armor can tank. He felt that if he just intentionally tanking hit, the armor would break down when it is needed the most.

"Master! Focus all of the power at the feet." Richard said before he dashes away with hypersonic speed.

Pierce channels his thought together and tried to draw all of the power in this suit into one place. His feet. And suddenly his body enveloped in an azure aura and he felt his vision is being stretched upon. Before he realized, he is running hypersonic speed like his Servant.

His mind ached, not supposed to be able to handle such speed that he is being forced to subject to. But before he felt more of the pain, his mind suddenly no longer feel it at all. The hypersonic speed that he is moving is suddenly nothing more but a simple jog.

The plane behind him impacted the ground and slides a huge distance and still approaching. The thing must have moved with hypersonic speed and considering how large the sky is, to mistake it for a slow-flying plane is fatal.

Looking for any gap between the building or anything. He realized that the further he is on the journey. The more narrow the city will be. It is common knowledge but it took him this long just to understand.

"Master!" An old voice said to him.

Whether by chance or not, his body lunged itself towards the source and find himself being hugged by his Servant. He looked back at the road that he jumped from and sees that it is completely razed and ablaze in azure flame. He guessed that it might have kamikazed itself in order to cause the most destruction possible. Just the destruction alone tells that the blast itself was far stronger than any tank shell the Panzer could have fired and he glad that he decided not risking himself to tank it.

"We have to meet up with everyone else now. We need to get to them as soon as possible." Richard said as he runs ahead.

Pierce followed the suits, but he senses something. He thought that terrain seems to be steeping or something but he decided to brush that away. He needs to get to the rest of his allies if he wanted to make it to the next daybreak.

And so they ran, while the seawater at their feet splatter with every step they take.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Sea of Watcher**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

"Onii-chan... Is it just me? Or is the terrain getting steeper?" Kuro said as she runs up against a hill while seawater keeps flooding down from there.

The enemy infantries are firing their weapons at Shirou but he easily deflected their attacks like nothing, but if that was the only thing then he wouldn't be struggling in the first place. Not only there are bullets that are flying at him, but mortar shells, explosives... all of them are also being hulled at him like a storm that is comparable to the rain that everyone is being showered under. Kuro also follows from behind in order to give fire support for her brother and Gudao follows behind them. The seawater that is flooding down from the top makes the whole road they running up against like a waterslide of a water park.

"Shirou! Give me a boost!" Kuro said to her brother!

"Got it!" Shirou said as he crosses the blade for Kuro to jump on.

She then quickly jumps on the blade as Shirou pushes her up to the sky and quickly turns back to deflect the attacks that are approaching him. Taking advantage of the chance she was given, she traced her bow and quickly unleashes a huge barrage of arrows on the enemies below her. There was so much of them that she cut through them easily like scissors through fabric. The whole scene unfolded like a hailstorm within a flood and all of the enemies below her are soon just ashes remain.

Shirou reached the top as he checked to see if there is anything still remains here. It was as he thought, Kuro makes short work of them. He then noticed his sister then landed nearby, splashing the seawater around her. After that, they waste no time to stand around and then continue running so that they can find Pierce and Richard

"Dear God, all of this just start to sap my stamina. I just can't see a point of running around aimlessly without a clear idea of where to go to..." Kuro said as she catches her breaths.

"Yeah... And I think that the seawater level is rising too. It was at my toenail at first but then it has completely engulfed my feet. I fear that if we not resolving this soon, we might going to pushes ourselves into a dead end." Shirou said with uncertainty in his voice.

"Hey, can you form waterproof barriers at your feet so that you can walk on the water surface. I want to check if that option works or not." Gudao asked as he tried to pursue his Servant.

Shirou slowed down a bit and then he focuses the mana towards his feet. Two barriers started to form around them but before any meaningful second passed, the barriers shattered like glass. And once again, Shirou's feet reach the ground and doused in seawater, again.

"So it is clear then. If the seawater has properties to break even Servant's water-walking barrier then this thing is definitely made to slow down and obstruct our movements. This is definitely the work of a Servant" Gudao said as runs along with his Servant.

And so they continue running, they honestly don't have any clue to where Pierce and Richard might be. But sitting around in one place won't make them find any of it easier.

Everyone is seeing clearly within pitch black but they still rely on Shirou's for distant true sight within this once heavily-populated city. And soon, they glad that they did so.

"A barrage of bullets, wait... It is coming to this place!" Shirou thought as his Hawkeye picked up something.

And as it started to get closer, Shirou's mind quickly goes overdrive. His mind is processing an ungodly amount of information at once that not even a Servant could do so without hurting their mind. He realized that he has to get his sister and Master out of harm's way as fast as he could or else. Tracing the Bakuya with the hand at his back and throw it in a backhanded style, that throw has enough strength to stick to something, not destroy it outright.

The blade then struck into the wall of a building, Shirou then quickly turned back and grabbed both of them at the same time. The barrage of bullets that are disguised to appear so in truth is a grinder of unadulterated slaughter heading their way and obliterating everything in its path. Calculating its speed and the distance remaining towards him, he has a second at best but that is enough for him. He has no hands left to hold onto the blade but he doesn't intend to sacrifice either of them either. He chose one final action, he opened his mouth and bite into the handle of the blades while his two other hands held onto his sister and Master.

The destruction incarnated attack razed through the road that they were running, the loud impact of each attack can rip a normal person's eardrum a few times over with each time. Thankfully that the contract of Gudao and between over 200 Servants allowed him to remain impervious to the side effects of just being near Servant's attack.

In the end, they managed to avoid the fatal attack and the road that they intended to use is now replaced with a chasm with seawater flowing into it. They just can't fathom how much power there is behind all of those attacks. Gudao is still in shock just from how close he and everyone are to their death.

"Master... I think I am just being insane but what if the enemy Servant we are up against has the ability to track everyone who is in contact with the seawater. That would explain why despite we never have used extreme measurement yet still getting tracked nonetheless. I'm sorry if I just said that but I just felt too paranoid right now." Kuro said while being left hanging.

Shirou can't say anything but at the same time, he doesn't want to let go of the blade and drop everyone at the seawater again. Especially after Kuro just gives that possibility.

"Shirou, you know that I can pull the same wall-cling just like you so can you let me go now?" Kuro asked her brother.

Shirou lets her go and she quickly traced the same twin swords and used enough strength stab into the wall. Shirou then stops biting the handle and quickly swap it to the other hand.

"Sorry, to think that I would become such a liability in a time like this," Gudao said sorrily.

"It is not your fault, Master... We didn't also foresee something like this either so don't be too harsh on yourself." Shirou reassures his Master.

"Well... since we are busted anyway, we should be moving away from this place and uses a flare in order to show the location that Richard and Pierce can see and hopefully not caught the attention of the opposing Servant because that is just freaking scary. Not that there is any secrecy left at this point considering the possibility." Kuro said

Gudao then reaches for the walkie-talkie that he placed within his side pouch, Servants can't read radio wave and this might the safest thing they have right now. He has to contact the others so that he can tell them about the change in the plan.

"Sorry, but we need to climb to the roof now!" Shirou said as he pulled himself towards the roof while holding Gudao with the other hand. Needless to say though, Gudao didn't like how Shirou did it.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Sums of Wrath**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

"Damn it... This goddamn flood started to get on my nerve..." Kiritsugu said as he detonates another laser trip mine remotely when the thing got submerged in water and its laser detector malfunctioned.

The seawater still rising, this time, they started to reach the calves of a grown person. The fact that the seawater here keeps disrupting the mana barrier makes traversing within the water surface extremely tedious.

A loud gunshot was heard, it was Larry who just fired his L39 anti-tank rifle at a bunch of enemies who conveniently lined up for him to kill. The constant wave of seawater created from the chaos started to obstruct the view. It also makes it really hard to crouch or prone because the seawater for some reason making him feeling extremely chilly that it isn't funny. But he still continues ignoring them because he has already experienced far colder battlefield.

"How's the situation going? Where do we go now?!" Larry said as he fends off the Azure Soldiers that keep popping up.

Every Servant presented here is divided into three squads. The first is Shirou, Kuro, and Gudao. Second, are Kiritsugu, Irisviel, Larry, Desmond. And lastly, Arnold, Alfin and Alice. They will split up so that they can cover a much wider ground, they are also given a communicator or comm for short so that they can update the situation on the fly. This communicator can connect with each other without signal booster and still work over a vast distance, that is just how powerful Servants' modifier is.

And within the ongoing chaos, the comm rings up to alert the change in the situation. Kiritsugu quickly takes it out of his pouch with one hand while the other is firing his Calico.

"What do you want!?" Kiritsugu yelled through the walkie-talkie while taking cover.

"Assassin! Use the flare now! Try to avoid contact with the seawater if possible! The seawater that you standing on is actually tracking you so that the enemy Servant will know where you are! All of our positions are compromised. Hold nothing back!" Gudao said through the comm while being slightly nauseated from the sudden change in speed.

Kiritsugu didn't understand what his Master meant but if he demanded it right now, he must have a good reason to. He quickly pushes all of his strength into his feet and leaped to the rooftop. Iri who is also held onto him has also told everyone else to follow them too.

Kiritsugu wasted no chance to shoot the flare gun up to the sky, the flare shined brightly and also bright enough to show the location, although its illumination use was made redundant after they obtained true sight for some unknown reason.

"Dude? I don't know if what you just did is a good idea or what but... this can only go so well..." Larry said as he tried to suppress the thought of things going wrong, no matter how likely it is.

"I think that we should also relay the message to Arnold too, we can't leave anyone in the dark after all." Desmond said as he climbed up the closest buildings.

Kiritsugu then dials the comm again and just when he is about to change the frequency. Desmond noticed something and quickly pushed everyone away and jumped off the building. In the next second, that same obliterating barrage razes through the building that they stood on into rubble.

It was a second that decided between life and death and it is all thanks to Desmond that everyone avoided that narrow death. Everyone would have been able to act on their own if they noticed it but the thing is moving with a speed that cut down the distances of 4 kilometers in near-instant, hardly anyone would be able to avoid it.

"Everyone, are you alright?" Desmond asked as he picks everyone up from the rubble.

"Yeah, I think? I am going to at least trying to-" Kiritsugu said as he tried to dial the comm before he realized something is wrong.

He landed on top of it, and the thing is malfunctioned because of the force landed on it and thus compromised the whole system. He can't communicate with Arnold's team or anyone else anymore.

This isn't going to end well.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Nothingness**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

**Meanwhile at Arnold's location**

Arnold fired his T-Gewehr again and watch it as it took out a Panzer with ease, he is glad that those metal archaisms don't have that kind of ridiculous speed like how they were back when he fought the Fox. Having greater versatile abilities that have _no _side effects are a huge boon to him.

Although... his combat capability isn't quite the level of Alfin and Alice. He looks extremely bland compared to their extremely flashy moves. Like Alfin firing her autocannons through the blazing portal that she summoned near her and commanding the simply by thinking about where to shoot. Not only that, it follows her everywhere as long as she permits it.

And Alice... Hoo boy... How does he start this, her capability... is endless. There is just no short of surprises when it comes to her. Like weaving around and slicing the enemy apart with the aura waves of her palms alone. Or the fact that she sent a massive pillar of lightning down below to wherever she chose, or the fact that she can just swing her hands and a blade of fire would form in the shape of an arc that moves with a speed beyond a Servant's recognition and cut through things that existed physically. If anything, her power is just overkill for anything here. Both Arnold and Alfin could just not lift a finger and let Alice pulled the weight and the results wouldn't change at all. Complete annihilation of the enemy's side.

But that is also highlighting one thing, just what exactly is her power? Where does it come from? Why does she have such unlimited potential that makes even God looks like a kid to her? Just what and how?

This question keeps spinning around his head, but he can't find an answer for it. It started to infuriate him to no end despite the fact that he has already been told that no Servants are made equal. Just why... Why does he felt envy at a time like this?

"Arnold?" Alfin asked as she finds him acting strangely.

"Oh! Uh... nothing?" Arnold said in surprise as he heard Alfin's voice.

Now that he realized it, the seawater has already reached his knee. But he paid in no mind for the experience of WW1 is far worse than the sea itself. To fruitlessly attempt to move through the mud that devoured your friends as you desperately tried to find a way to get over? That is like comparing a small cut to brutally gutted. And not so surprisingly, Arnold is moving through the seawater and the rain like nothing but Alfin's movement appeared to be hampered for some reason.

"Alfin? Is something wrong?" Arnold asked as he approaches her.

"Sorry, it just that I find it hard to move when the water reached my thighs like this." Alfin said.

He then realized that what he may find simple and stuff would be a Herculean task for others. He is tall and has previous experience when it comes to fighting when engulfed in something. Alfin on other hands may have fought in a much more recent war and it is definitely not as dirty like his, not to mention that she is shorter than him by a large margin. Like her height just reached his chest at most. This also makes him realized that if it wasn't for Alice being godly powerful to the point she could levitate on her own, she would have already been engulfed to her chest.

"Shall I give you a piggyback ride then? It would also cover our weaknesses too. You can unleash your firepower and I could move through the seawater unhindered." Arnold said to Alfin.

"Really!? Can we do it now!?" Alfin said as sparks appeared in her eyes.

Arnold then crouched and Alfin climbed onto his back. She then held onto him so that she doesn't accidentally fall off. When they are prepared, Arnold dashes forward with all of his stamina. The speed that he is running now started to reach a point that he would straight up running on the water surface without any needing mana barriers.

"Hold up! Where's Alice?" Alfin said as she realized something is missing.

"She probably went ahead of us, we will catch her soon so hang on." Arnold said as he speeds up.

And so Arnold continues to run, he knew for sure that Alice's attacks always left the whole place with a massive spike in mana level. He just simply need to track down where the spike would be. Although that would have been so simple if there were no one trying to kill him. He noticed the sounds of somethings getting nearer and Alfin also nodded.

She looked back at the sky and noticed the fighters begin to approach. They act like they are being secretive but nothing more than usual fighter planes that they fight back then. She then quickly summons anti-air guns through the blazing portals she made. The moment you combine heavy firepower with fast-moving speed, you pretty much have created something unstoppable.

"Fire!" Alfin yelled to command the guns to fire.

Getting fired upon by anti-air shells, the opposing fighter planes quickly return fire. No matter how powerful Servant is, they aren't indestructible. After all of the crap they did, it would only make sense that the Nazis increased the firepower just to make sure it could kill Servant. The real firepower of theirs isn't on any soldier alone, the real meat is on the heavy battle armor that makes even Servant struggle to fight against, the soldiers are only there to boost the killing power of their armor.

Arnold knows one thing for sure though, he must not stop at all. He will have to keep running no matter the odds that are stacking up more and more against him. Focusing all of his willpower, he will have to do even what considered impossible.

The fighter planes fired their autocannons, Alfin also quickly created more machine guns in order to deflect back those bullets. 20mm vs 7.92mm sounds extremely onesided but Alfin is a Servant and thus her modifier would alter the firepower of her weapons and ammunition themselves. It would also be much more efficient than just using tit for tat.

Arnold meanwhile just running everywhere he sees, just hope that Alfin would take them all down in time. Work together or die, that is how everything always boiled down.

He keeps running, making sharp turns or drift on the water surface just by distributing his weights and balance. Even running on the wall should the situation demanded it. But even then, he felt that he had to do something. Just keeping up with this wild goose chase will get him nowhere. His true sight allows him to see things with clear detail even in darkness helped out a lot but whenever he looked down into the seawater, he calculated that the height is now roughly reaching his chest. He wonders if this is going to turn into a reenactment of Noah's flood or not but he just hopes it is the latter because he ain't want to deal with any biblical shit at this point.

**_Follow me_**

He heard something, a really familiar voice that he can't forget. It's from Alice! Where was she this whole time, and why is she speaking telepathically to him now!?

_**Turn left**_

Heeding her words without asking anymore question, he turned sharply to the left direction and quickly follows any of her instructions afterward. He feels that things might not be going to end well but he would rather risking himself than to be left in a standstill.

He ran and Alfin still keeps firing at the enemy planes. Those fighter planes still persistently wanted to kill them and willingly pursuing them until their demise. He makes so many turns and runs for so long that he doesn't even know if he is actually going anywhere or just running in a circle.

Well, that is what he thought though... Until he trips over something and ended up making both him and Alfin fell into the water. It has reached neck-deep already and he can't help himself but worry that things will turn for the worse. Trying to swim up and catch his breath and then he noticed someone. It's Richard! Alice actually guided him here. But he can't help himself but apologize Richard for tripping on his head.

"Wait! Why are you still here standing in this neck-deep water?!" Arnold said to Richard.

"I'm also asking you that question but ouch... my head hurts just from being kicked right in the back of it." Richard said.

"Look out! Duck!" Alfin said as she tried to warn her partner of the incoming fighter planes that are pursuing them.

Everyone quickly dived into the water and tried to swerve their bodies to avoid getting hit. Thankfully that water resistance is a thing and the power behinds those bullets aren't as much as before and they just simply bounced off them.

"Now!" Arnold thought as he crouched against the ground and focus his strength at the feet and quickly jumped up vertically.

The sudden leap of his burst through the water surface like a geyser and quickly landed on top of a nearby building. Another fighter plane is getting closer and intended to fire its guns at him. Well, it intended to.

A hook shot burst through its wing and got taken apart before it crashes into a closeby building. And then it exploded and splashes the seawater everywhere around its vicinity.

Arnold looked at the destruction unfolded and then looked at a familiar yet different person. Pierce who is now donned on the greatly improved armor and is retracting his hook back. Richard has also jumped up to the rooftop to join with.

"Thank god that we managed to find each other so where are the others now?" Richard asked.

Arnold then quickly grabs the comm out of his side pouch, hoping that it is still functional despite being dipped inside water for extended periods. Thankfully, it still works although barely.

"Hey! Are you alri..ht.." Gudao's voice comes out of the comm although extremely glitchy.

"Yes, we found Richard and Pierce! Where are you now!?" Arnold yelled through the comm.

"We lo... con...t w...h K... gro... Can y... fin... them an... a...ure the... safe...?" Gudao tried to contact but the comm started to breakdown.

And the comm ceased to function afterward. He then drops the comm into the ground in silence, everyone is split up with each other... again. Ultimately, they have all returned to square one. Arnold then looked at the sky and suddenly shudder in horror as he noticed a massive fleet of planes and bombers are approaching their location. They are intending to raze this whole part of the city into a massive crater. He wouldn't have noticed otherwise thanks to true sight.

"Crap! We have to do something now!" Pierce said.

Arnold stood there not knowing what to do, so many things are going on that he doesn't know exactly what he should do. But then, he looked at Alice who is suddenly appeared beside him once more.

"What the!? Where were you this whole time!?" Arnold asked on behalf of everybody's confusion.

Alice stood there with an expressionless face but then she closed her eyes and suddenly leap straight up to the sky up for thousands of meters before anyone could track her. The forces she pushes towards the ground fractured the whole buildings and probably much more. Arnold rebalanced himself and looked up at the sky where she is levitating.

The Nazi's air force has noticed her and begins to open fire upon her, their planes filled the whole stormy sky above them with so much that he just can no longer tell the difference between what is exactly covering the whole sky.

But... none of their efforts to attack her actually paid off, all of it just ceases to be when it reached her proximity of what he roughly estimated of one kilometer. What Alice is displaying is beyond any act of divine he could actually think of and the same could be applied to anyone here really.

Focusing his sight, he tried to see if Alice is doing anything. She is... making a finger gun? And just when he started to question it, a beam fired straight from her finger and she makes a sweep with her finger while the beam still fire. A very simple gesture that is done within a second. Completely decimated 80% of their force effortlessly. Explosions soared through the sky as all of it turned into nothingness.

Arnold just gasps in complete disbelief, no matter who you are, witnessing an army getting decimated by a single person with a simple gesture would definitely tell you that this isn't any laughing matter anymore. It is just completely hysterical and madness in itself.

And if that isn't enough, Alice then clasps her hands together and an aura generates around her. Within another second, a blast of aura was released and watch as it blasting the entire sky away. When it started to reach them, it was a blinding light that everyone instinctively covered their eyes away as if they fear the possibility that it too would annihilate them.

It was like watching the whole dimension collapsed, they can only stand there and watch it as everything returned... to nothing.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Beacon Within Darkness**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

"What on earth happened?" Gudao said as he lies on the rooftop with his vision started to slowly cleared up from that pure white vision.

He looked up at the sky and sees that all of the clouds are gone, there is no more rain, all of it is replaced with a clear starry night sky with the moon shined upon him. When was the last time he sees a moon this beautifully?

"Ugh... What happened?" Gudao said to himself as he found both Shirou and Kuro in the same delirious state.

Shirou and Kuro slowly picked themselves up. It was like they are in an entirely different place but they can be forgiven for thinking so when they witness something like that unfolded.

Gudao picked his communicator and he tried to dial but the only thing remains is the statics. Feeling disheartened, he tosses away the comm for it is completely useless. His tactics of splitting up completely and spectacularly backfired.

"How on earth can we get back with each other?..." Gudao thought as he facepalms with both hands in his face in self-disappointment.

Gudao knows that he shouldn't give up now, especially after this far. But he can't help himself but feel down at a time like this.

"After such an attack like that, pretty much everything is gone except for the abandoned infrastructure, the rising tides and-. Wait!? The tide is still rising!?" Kuro tried to cheer her Master up only to panic even more.

The seawater has already risen to the point it is now 3-meter deep. Not only that but it is also still rising regardless of what happened.

"Damn it! How long did we got knocked out!?" Gudao said in frustration.

"I don't know, Master... But it might not have been long because it is still clearly midnight." Shirou said as he tried to analyzes the sky.

Gudao started to act more and more frustrated, he knows that he will have to rendezvous with everyone somehow. But it just frustrates him to no end that he is being put through the wringer right now despite being done so many times before.

"Master?" Kuro said to Gudao.

Gudao turned his sight on whatever Kuro tried to say and he suddenly got his attention drawn into it. It's... a beacon! Shirou used his Hawkeye to check how such a thing come to be and learned that it was Alice's doing soon enough when he looked at the very top of the beacon's light. Alice is illuminating a whole pathway just to rendezvous with everyone else.

"Shall we head there?" Shirou asked his Master.

Gudao for some reason finds hesitating when it comes to Alice, she is an enigma with no possible way to explain. Many Servants can be understood when it comes to their history but she is a completely blank page with absolutely no content in it.

But... he knew damn well that he would rather take a path of uncertainty rather than standing still.

"Everyone! We will head to the beacon." Gudao said to Shirou and Kuro before he jumps from the top of buildings to buildings.

Kuro and Shirou follow his suit and do the same. If Kuro's hypothesis is correct, that must mean the opposing Servant is still alive. Whoever that person is, they are intending to finish off his opponents for once and for all.

He just hopes that none of his Servant would try to swim all their way here or otherwise, it may be going to end really badly.

After roughly 20 minutes of parkouring his way here, he managed to reach the waypoint that Alice marked with herself as a beacon. The dazzling light shines on this place make it looks like a sanctuary blessed by the divine. And also soon enough, his Servants have also all reached this place themselves although without soaking themselves in process. But other than that, they are very much fine.

"Well, at least we got everyone again..." Irisviel said.

And then the light disappeared and Alice descends back from the sky again. He would kinda expect her to be tired but she isn't even seems fazed after unleashing such a powerful attack like that. It was like... what Alice did is just as tiring as breathing normally.

Shirou looked at her attentively, he knew that this power is ungodly familiar that he should already know. Void Shiki has already told him that she got a premonition that there is somebody in this Singularity that has the power that evenly matches even her. He has also witnessed how Void Shiki fight and needless to say though, it always ends in a single move of her and she wasn't even serious about it.

In Babylonia Singularity, when a massive horde of Lahmus tearing apart civilians in Uruk. A single slash of Void Shiki cleared the whole sky while the others and even Gilgamesh is struggling to repel them from causing irreversible damage to the human foundation. And during the final fight against Tiamat and after King Hassan enables her death, that was the only time he ever sees Void Shiki looking so serious. After that, Tiamat is gone before they even realized it. The Beast that took all collective efforts of many Servants in order just to stop it. Ereshkigal, Ishtar, Quetzacoal, Merlin, Jaguar Warrior, Enkidu and all of Chaldean Servants who were deployed in that fight. Void Shiki just simply dealt with the killing blow although it was more of Gilgamesh who did that with his full power Ea. That's what she is, a Watcher who looks over them.

But seeing Alice like this, he felt that he couldn't ignore that glaring similarity between them. Void Shiki is a physical manifestation of the root and thus all-powerful, but it is precisely that kind of blessing that she is just bored with her own existence and the fact that she has everything handed to her since birth just only amplified that. He wonders... if Alice is also another manifestation of the root itself?

"So where do we go now?" Desmond asked.

Before an answer was said, everybody's gaze suddenly turned on a large hill that they could even tell from a large distance. The rain was obstructing their views and thus they didn't notice it until now when everything is clear.

"Wait. Was that hill ever there to begin with?" Arnold asked as he finds it ominous.

"According to the modern Germany map. I would answer no. That mountain is an anomaly created by external influences. The enemy Servant might be there and the only way to the fourth ring is right behind it. There is no other way to get there without wasting too much time." Da Vinci said through the comm that is connected to the Shadow Border. The reason this specific comm still working is because of the fact that it is the only lifeline between Gudao and Shadow Border and thus was made significantly durable and resistant to any external factors.

"Alice, can you just wipe that mountain out of our way?" Arnold asked Alice.

"Unfortunately, while I am not exhibiting it. I am in fact exhausted and so all of you will have to resolve it on your own." Alice said with a composing voice.

Arnold could tell that she is lying, no Servant has that high output of magical energy like that. But he could understand why she would say that after all, they were in the middle of a great crisis at the time and she wouldn't just stay still as a spectator when they are about to face something like that. She just wanted everyone to become better on their own without relying on anything divine or special. At least... that is what he wanted to believe.

"Fine... We would resolve the whole thing without your help even without your help." Arnold said while he moves away from her.

"Okay then, everyone! Onward!" Gudao then commanded every servant at his side to march towards the mountain.

And so they rush toward the mountain, jumping on from buildings to buildings. They head there knowing this will be a tough battle ahead yet they still headstrong towards it.

Will their blood taints the whole sea? Or will their convictions will shatter the mountain back to its depth? It is a question with an answer that is only inevitably approaching.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**The Beast That Devoured Thousands**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

And so they make their final push and leaps towards the mountain and avoid any possible contact with the seawater surrounding it. And so they managed to land on what looks like... shoreline?

"Uhm, I don't remember there is any beach or shoreline here. Are we sure that this isn't some kind of trap that is awaiting to spring at us?" Kuro said as she looked around the place for anything suspicious.

Gudao thinks as he tried to make any connection to this place and WW2 itself. But before he could make any meaningful connection he was suddenly pulled from behind by Desmond. Within that split second, he noticed that everyone is moving away from their positions and even when before it was ended, the ground where he was roughly 8m away is completely blasted away.

"Jii-san, now!" Shirou said to his father.

"Got it!" Kiritsugu said to his son.

Those two quickly activate their respective power, Shirou with the power of projection and Kiritsugu with the mage crest of _time alter. _Both of them combined and created the most indestructible non-NP form of defense against Servants. Timeless Blades.

Right after they created a wall of timeless blades as a makeshift form of defense. Desmond quickly throws Gudao at it and quickly moving away as fast as possible. They can't let the Chaldean Master to get caught up against an enemy that would take an easy victory anytime and thus will give him any protection that he required.

Gudao situated himself against the timeless blade, feeling delirious from the effect resulted from sudden velocity change. And suddenly a massive barrage of noise went on from his back. His head hurts from the excessive amount of noise he is being forced to endure but it is far more acceptable than getting hit by any of those directly.

Shirou quickly tried to rush towards the top but the barrage of bullets was too great for him to the point that he ended up having to uses his defensive NP that he prepared far earlier than how he expected.

**_Rho Aias!_**

Shirou quickly traced the seven-petal shield and blocked the barrage of bullets with all he had. The shock of the impact alone transmits across his whole body and he can't help himself but shudder at the destructive impacts that the shield is being forced to subject to.

One petal broke then two, it just starts to add up and also reflected on the arm of his. His arm started to bleed and the bone inside started to fracture. And when the fifth petal broke, the barrage ceased completely contrary to Shirou's expectation. He wanted to let his guard down but he doesn't want to know if the enemy is about to bait him into carelessly attacking.

Shirou tried to focus his Hawkeye on the opposing Servant but the pain started to blur his vision, he can't focus while being like this. Meanwhile, Arnold who was running up against the hill parallel to Shirou's path. He focused his vision and tried to look at the opposing Servant at the top of the mountain. He is taking out the white-hot barrel of the machine gun and he is... loading it into his rifle? Arnold doesn't know what that man is intending to do but he knew it is not going to bold well for anyone on his side.

The bolt-action rifle then suddenly transmogrified into a railgun, and Arnold suddenly realized what is going to happen next. He used something akin to a railgun once by himself and he knew well how powerful it is. The shield that Shirou is putting up won't withstand it and he is going to die if he keeps his guard on like this.

Arnold then quickly leaps toward Shirou and grabbed him by the shirt. Using all of the strength he has, he pulled Shirou out of where he is standing and disrupt the shield itself. And then, something flew past them and they barely avoided it. But they can still feel it although avoided getting hit by it, Arnold swore that it felt like the sun literally just flew past him. He then looked at the ground where the 'projectile' flew through, they were razed in a straight line with something burning in the outermost layer. He looked at the sea and he just a massive pillar of steam that just smoking up from wherever it landed on the seawater.

He gulped, never will he wish to be at the receiving end of that. Quickly picking himself up as fast as possible so that he can use the time that the enemy replaces the barrel so that he can cut down more of the distance. But before he could take another step, the enemy has already replaced the barrel and continue firing the machine gun.

"Oh shit!" Arnold thought as his impending doom approaches him.

"Trace on!" _time alter_

Those voices were spoken at the same time and the next moment, he found himself staring at the blades and hearing ear-piercing sounds. He realized that the father and son are now crouching tiredly after getting into another close call.

"Damn it! We really have to find a goddamn way to take down that bastard" Shirou said.

This barricade of timeless blades is 5 meters wide and 1.7 meters tall. They can withstand all kinds of punishment but will remain stuck there until its summoner dispels them or the world gets rid of them by themselves when they detected it as anomalies. Too much power or divinity or both at the same time will shatter them. But nonetheless, this is the only thing that could possibly stand up against him.

"Kiritsugu, how much is the distance between us and him?" Gudao asked.

"The distance between us and him is around 250m, we normally can just rush over that distance before a second could pass. But that man will kill us if we act like a bunch of retards like running head-on without tactics. This is a battle of attrition and we will have to use everything at our disposal for any hope of making through. Of course, we won't be using anything at the cost of our lives, that is more obvious than the nose on your face." Kiritsugu said his analysis.

The barrage of bullets ceased coming, the enemy will now fire the blazing barrel right at the Chaldean Servants. What they need to do is to bait him into firing it and avoiding it without repercussions. The hard part is to avoid something that has a muzzle velocity of hypersonic.

Pretty sure nobody is willing to be the bait. Get hit by that once and say goodbye to everything you fought hard for. But... that is what common sense would normally tell.

Desmond jumped out of the barricade and quickly running towards the enemy Servant. The enemy obviously saw him and unhesitantly opened fire with the railgun. The bolt that was a burning hot machine gun barrel quickly moves with a speed that easily surpasses hypersonic. Desmond's mind only tells him one thing, return to the sender. By all technicality, it isn't him deliberately harming his enemy, it was to protect his friends. And because of that, Desmond's crisis strength was activated for that brief decisive moment.

He spins around for a whirlwind kick that will deflect the bolt back with even greater strength. When the bolt about to reach him in microseconds, he pushes everything he had into that one decisive kick, faith, strength, anything. He pushes everything he had into it, an all-out bet that he either dies trying or giving his allies one massive boost that will greatly cut down the challenge.

The impact between Desmond's kick and the blazing bolt ensued. The shockwave resulted from the impact shook everything to its core, its blast so huge that it created a tsunami just from the sheer shockwave alone, it shook the whole mountain and the sky was once again torn apart.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Desmond screamed in agony as he desperately tried to kick the bolt back while it continuously drilling through his leg. The damn thing is burning, that he could feel the thing incinerating through his leg. If anything, what he just did is the same equivalence of kicking the sun back to where it belongs.

Everyone can feel that scream piercing through their hearts, even Arnold swore that scream will haunt him in his nightmare. Even just hearing the scream alone can tell just how torturous what Desmond is going through right now.

"Damn you!" Desmond screams as he pushes the kick with all of everything into it, slowly but surely pushing the bolt back even if by millimeters.

Some religious Servants have a skill called Protection of Faith which they convert their faith into their physical strength. This isn't a form of blessing or anything but rather the strength of self-conviction condensed into a skill and Desmond has a ton of it. Not only that but he has many other skills that when all conditions met, they will stack up and make him easily able to make impossible actions pathetically easy to him.

A blaze formed within Desmond's eye, his faith and conviction are his only weapons when he is up against a Herculean task. Nobody has ever backed him up when he needed help but he is always there for everyone no matter what. Pushing beyond his own limits, he lets out his prayer.

_Dear Lord, just one more_

And the moment he prayed, he kicked back the bolt with the speed that achieved the sub-relativistic. The bolt burst into a speed that is unreal, no one can even detect it at all. There is no possible way to deflect it and it reached straight into the enemy Servant. Desmond then fell to the ground with his right leg completely incinerated from attempting to deflect the bolt back with a kick. He completed his purpose and so he has nothing left to cling onto anymore. About what happened to the bolt, they guessed that it just got shot straight into space.

A killing blow was thought to be assured, but perhaps they were too hopeful. But what it managed to accomplish, is nonetheless turned the table for Chaldeans. The bolt destroyed the railgun and also caused a massive hole in the stronghold that the enemy Servant is hiding in. Not only that but he seems to be dazed of what just happened.

"This is the chance, go!" Gudao commanded everyone to charge.

Every Servant in Gudao's side quickly rushing over and cut down the distance as much as possible. Larry when finally got close to Desmond and he quickly carries him on his back. The poor guy needs his well-deserved rest after this madness ended.

"Everyone! He is preparing his machine gun again. Prepare to take cover!" Illya said as she noticed he preparing the enemy Servant is repreparing the machine gun again.

_Trace on! time alter_

Another wall of timeless blades was forged. This time, the enemy won't have any weapon that is capable of breaking this wall and victory will be theirs. Because after all, they managed to cut the distance down into 100m left. However, Shirou wanted an answer to his question, now.

"Master, can you tell me who is this Servant we are fighting. I think that we are done being in the dark for long enough. I surely believe that there is enough information for you to piece everything together. For our sake, please tell us who on earth are we fighting now?!" Shirou said to his Master.

Gudao thought for a little while and he decided that what he said will be the only answer for what they are fighting against now.

"Shirou, what we are fighting right now is possibly one of the greatest menaces in WW2, the Beast of Omaha or Heinrich Severloh if you wanted to call him. The man who mowed down over from hundreds to nearly 2000 soldiers within 9 hours of D-Day. The man who was dubbed as the Beast for the sheer kill counts alone and his miraculous survival in the end. What you are seeing right now is that same man but as a Servant who is carrying out the same duty of that faithful day. Hell, all this seawater and rising tides are most likely his own doing as well." Gudao said as he ascertains his own suspicion.

"Talk about rising tides, the seawater is also rising as well!" Kuro said to her Master panically.

Gudao realized that the sea has also risen, now it has completely engulfed the whole city into its depth, the only thing remained is this mountain.

"Master... I think that we should also hurry up because this isn't any simple sea anymore." Shirou said before he tosses a sword into it.

The moment the swords landed on the seawater, it suddenly starting to dissipate and soon, it just a murk of blackness on the seawater itself.

"And it is rising fast too, we need to act now!" Illya said as she begins to panic with her sister.

"Oh for the love of! Isn't this guy's gun supposed to overheat long ago!?" Kiritsugu said as he realized it was overdue for the Severloh's overheating.

"I think the guy only replaced the barrel because he only intended to use it as a projectile, not because it isn't optimal to do so!" Larry yelled to break through the overwhelmingly deafening noise of bullets clashing on the blades.

Richard looked at where the Beast most likely is, he smirked for he has an ace up his sleeves.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**One for All - All for One**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

The true power of the armor that Pierce is using, the ultimate ability of the Adamantine armor he is wearing.

This will be a clash that is beyond any words to describe. He is simultaneously ecstatic and fearful at the same time. He felt ecstatic because he is about to unveil the true power of the armor but fears because what if he made a wrong step and overplayed his cards and ultimately pay it with his Master's life? But what is the point of a trump card if he is not going to use it? Finding that this is the most appropriate time to use it. He laughed for everyone to hear and then announce his trump card.

"Don't worry my dear friends, I got the perfect answer for this predicament we are in. Pierce! Stand up and get out there to demonstrate!" Richard said loudly while telling his Master.

"What are you insane!? That guy will make hash out of me faster than you blink an eye!" Pierce protests out of the fact that his Servant is putting his life on the line.

"Just do it! Or we will all die regardless! Plus, what you are about to unleash is the true power of the armor. Don't falter, that is all I could give you! Oh and DON'T MOVE FAST" Richard said to Pierce in order to encourage him.

Pierce shrugs, it is either risk dying in order to break through the situation or die later. He knew which choice to make and so he decided.

He stood up and the barrage of bullets came flooding on him as if it wants to sweep him out into the sea where he will dissolve into stench. But oddly enough, he doesn't feel anything. In fact, he actually withstood all of it despite the massive amount of ballistics clashing on him, no flinching, no knockback. Nothing. And that is what truly surprised him.

He then jumps over the barricade and walks menacingly towards the Beast, he slowly approaching him while he just swats off all of those devastating attacks like nothing. Heeding his Servant's words, he walked slowly but surely towards him. He could definitely tell that no Servant in this era is capable of nullifying attack to this level.

"And all of you just witness the greatest invention I have made this far. Crisis Core. Its power will envelop its user in a barrier that is capable of nullifying all ballistics based attack no matter how powerful it is. This is your end, surrender or he'll put an end to you by himself." Richard announces to the Beast that he has already got the game into his favor.

But... announcing something like that might not be a good idea for he wasn't called the Beast just for killing alone. Severloh then proceeds to throw out the burning barrels right outside. Pierce looks at the barrels and wonders what is the Beast is intending exactly, soon he got the answer for it.

The barrels detonated into massive shrapnel and incendiary blast, leaving a blazing trail behind it. The blast knocked Pierce away despite he is using Crisis Core and he realized that the Beast sidestepped his whole resistance.

"Damn it! We have to go now!" Kuro said as she jumps over the barrier and everyone else quickly follows the suits for the rising tides that have almost reached them.

_**Rho Aias!**_

Kuro chanted and a shield made of 7 petals formed in front of her. However, the Beast knows his priority.

"Gah!" Shirou yelled as bullets pierce through him as he couldn't deflect them all in time.

"Shirou!" Irisviel yelled in panic as she threw herself in front of her son in order to protect him.

Larry quickly drags Shirou out of harm's way as fast as he could but he couldn't do anything about Irisviel who is being shot repeatedly. Shirou who despite being in shock, quickly chanted along with his father in order to create another barrier set.

_Trace on! time alter_

A large barrier of timeless blades was enacted and they got closer again but without casualty. Shirou despite having many injuries but he managed to hold on. His mother though for some reason, somehow still remains looking unharmed despite eating a huge barrage of bullets. And Pierce got left there in the frontline. However, Richard assures that as long as Pierce remains stationary, he'll be fine no matter what.

"Child of Nature" Kiritsugu explains first just so that no one will just panic around her.

"Don't worry Onii-chan! I shall administer medicine so that you will recover fast!" Illya said as she whips out a syringe out of nowhere and then injects into Shirou.

Although, Illya probably injected the wrong one.

"Illya, why the flying fuck am I feeling so hot right now!? Are you sure what you injected into me is actual medicine!?" Shirou tried to yell through his delirious state where his vision just started to blur from the bleeding.

"Wah! I am sorry, I accidentally injected you with aphrodisiac! Please, I shall treat you correctly this time!" Illya then quickly saying sorry as much as she could before injecting Shirou with the proper medicine.

Everyone there just watching the situation unfolded with a 'WTF' face. They can't help themselves but crack a wry smile despite facing a life and death situation.

"We have 75m left until we reach the top, this guy will attack anyone who isn't hiding behind the shield. Hey, your name is Kuro, am I right?" Larry said and then asked the tanned little girl.

"Yeah? You can also call me Chloe if you wanted to." Kuro said.

"Is it a requirement to remain stationary when using that 7-petal shield?" Larry asked.

"That I am not going to bet on at all in a time like this. If I was in a situation where there is no enemy, I could at least test out without repercussion. But here, one bad move and you pay it with your life. I am not risking for something without any clear reward for doing so." Kuro said.

Larry sighed, she does make a point but he felt like he had to do something. He glanced over the timeless blades that are being used as a barrier to protect everyone from the Beast's attacks. Suddenly, he got an idea.

"Shirou, are these blades bounded to the boundary of the world?" Larry asked.

"That's true, if I am not bound them into the world, those things would fly off with the speed of the earth rotation from west to east. And we not even account for the fact that it might also move even faster since the world is basically a ball of space rock spinning in space while moving along with the sun. And I am not sparing a second to calculate its trajectory since if I am going to do that, might as well make a time machine." Shirou said with an annoyed expression.

Larry decided to think in Shirou's stead instead, at least about the trajectory where the timeless blades would hit if he could unbind them. Thinking about the path he has taken so far, he shudders in realization that everything is in fact in his favor. The path they have taken is from east to west direction so far. If he can convince Shirou to unbind them now, it will- No, the Beast will come crash into it since the blades then only ignore time, not space. The earth rotates in the west to east direction and the blade will remain stationary in space.

But before he goes convincing Shirou to do it, he realized that while the attack in itself is unstoppable, it doesn't mean it can't be avoided. He should also follow it up in the event that the Beast managed to avoid getting hit by it. Something that could match the ridiculous firing rate of the machine gun that the Beast is using. Looking at the passage of the past, he noticed a weapon that he has also used. Something that could possibly match it, a weapon that he also has his parts in developing it alongside his friends.

The Final Conda, the thing also has a secret feature in it. It was built so that when the conditions lie in favor, its full potential will be unleashed. But the reason he thought it was gimped forever is that Gudao has said that the next leyline is right at Berlin and thus making the whole feature redundant and thus he didn't bother listing it up but seeing how the Beast is firing his weapon nonstop, he suspected that there has to be also another leyline here, one that might possibly have been dug up forcefully from the depth. The ammo belt that is linked up to the box can be stretched up to 20m which is something unorthodox to do but he felt something in him told him to do so.

His mind is clear, he knew what to do. Whether he will be a sheep that will be sacrificed to the slaughterhouse or a brave warrior who reached the top of glory, all of it doesn't matter. Someone has to pick up the slack first and he won't be afraid to do so.

"Shirou! Unbound the blades, now!" Larry said to Shirou.

"Alfin, give me the Final Conda, now!" And he quickly turned to Alfin and told her to do so

Normally, Shirou would disagree but the consuming tide from the back is approaching them and thus he felt no choice but to oblige to Larry's request. He quickly then touches the blades and quickly chanted silently. Meanwhile, Alfin recreates the weapon with her own memory and fundamental understanding of it.

_Trace... Bind... Off_

In the next moment, the blades that were bound by time suddenly flew off straight into the path that Larry's guessed. And within that moment of confusion, Alfin quickly threw him the Final Conda. Larry then steps up and threw the ammo box that is linked to the belt at exactly 20 meters away while he still held onto the belt with the other hand.

Just like what he expected, the Final Conda when is set up in an area near a leyline, it will quickly draw mana from it and thus giving it a massive reservoir of ammo that the counter can't even display them all. He can now fire the gun with all of its full might without risking himself of mana exhaustion. And here is another part, when the Final Conda is linked up to a leyline, its firing rate will be switched for the full-potential mode, boasting a massive firing rate of 300000 RPM. That is not also counting the overheating issues and much other stuff but now isn't the time to be distracted.

The box clicked in, sending a massive torrent of mana into the gun. The ammo counter now suddenly spinning erratically from the sudden influx of mana it received. It spins so fast that only one can guess the afterimage of the counter. The six-digit counter now only leaving the afterimages that create the Infinite symbol, much like what a clockwork calculator does when you divide it by 0.

40 meters, he'll be able to buy 40 meters for his friends.

The blades have destroyed the rest of the stronghold, leaving the Beast completely exposed to other attacks. He managed to avoid getting hit nonetheless but he knew for sure he won't be able to prolong this fight any longer.

Both pulled the trigger and the torrents of bullets came fort. So much bullets that are being fired that it just completely unreal, the sounds of bullets clashing against each other created a deafening orchestra, a symphony of madness. Both Richard and Alfin were shocked in surprise for the fact that they didn't know the Final Conda is capable of doing such a thing.

Larry keeps moving forward, the sheer amount of recoil could have busted his shoulder out its socket long ago but he refused to back down after made it this far. Doing so is to spit all on his effort. His slender finger is bleeding from the extreme and repeated vibrations that it is being forced to go through. The gun is overheating extremely quickly due to the amount of bullet it is being forced to fire. At first, he thought he could handle the heat, but the thing started to go from molten metal into dipping his fist straight into the Earth's core. Hell, the Final Conda might as well a miniature sun from how bright it is shining and the air around it starts to warping itself from the sheer heat.

He still trying to continue walking towards the Beast, his eyes glint at the enemy in front of him, ignoring the torturous pain that he is being subjected to. He knew that he will make it through, as long the flame of his heart burns brighter than the flame outside. 40 meters to him is like climbing the Everest from the bottom, it is grueling and unforgiving but he will keep moving forward as long as he still held onto his belief.

The Final Conda now started to illuminate like a dying star, both he and the gun itself is at the limit. Any further and it will be the path of no return. Seeing what is going to become of Larry, everyone then quickly rushing towards him and sprung into action immediately.

Both Shirou and Kiritsugu deployed another barrier of timeless blades, stopping the barrage again. Larry collapsed into the ground with his hand completely cauterized and the gun then just keep burning up and into the mountain itself. And then suddenly the whole mountain shook violently as if something inside it exploded, the Final Conda itself might have gone supernova due to its instability much like how a dying star is.

"We don't have much time left! We need to act now or this will be the end for all of us!" Kiritsugu said as he tried to check Larry's condition.

Larry isn't responding but his pulse can still be detected, this isn't the time to be checking up on others. This is after all their last minutes or even seconds. 60 meters left, they really have to act now.

"Damn it! We were so close!" Alfin said as she can't believe this how everything is going to end.

Arnold then looked at Alice who is standing right behind him. After seeing Desmond and Larry got heavily injured because of her negligence, he got pissed off at the fact that she is still having that shit-eating unmotivated expression despite seeing how bad the injury his friends just got into. He grabbed her from the dress collar and shook her repeatedly. He wanted an answer.

"Why!? Why didn't you do anything for them!?" Arnold yelled at her while shaking her repeatedly despite the fact that she is a different scale of caliber than him.

She still has that same expression which made Arnold acting even more on his emotions outburst. He keeps shaking her telling her to do something.

"Alice! If you still intend to stand here and do nothing, I'm just going to tell you that death isn't going to be the worst fate that everyone here endures! It is the loss of their entire efforts, all the hard works that they did to get this far. We don't have the luxury of reattempting at what we failed and you can't possibly understand it!" Arnold said to her as he begs her to do something.

Alice still has that emotionless expression on her but then she closed her eyes and then lifts her hand forward. Arnold doesn't know what she is doing but the world around him collapsing doesn't make it any sort easier.

The barrier of timeless blades disappeared instantly, but the barrage of bullets still not reaching them. They were ceased to exist the moment they reached something On a closer look, it is actually a sphere. A sphere of void, anything came into contact with it ceased to exist in an instant. At that moment, he realized that Alice's power also reached a realm that he would never thought to be possible. Boundary Manipulation.

She started to levitate and quickly moving towards the Beast while the sphere of void also moves forward. Everyone quickly took the chance and keeps running behind it, Richard grabbed Larry and carries him along with Desmond who is also unconscious even until now.

Closing down the final distance, the mountain started to collapse, the ground quickly fractures and falling down. Realizing that they won't have enough time to kill the Beast before they will fall into the sea and get dissolved by the stench of death within it. Gudao decided to bet his one final chance, if they won't win in this reality, he will bring the whole fight into another one.

"Archer EMIYA, by the power of my Command Seal, use your Noble Phantasm!" Gudao said as the ground behinds him collapsing at an alarming rate.

_**Words of God: **__** For this part, play Fate/stay night - Emiya**_

10 seconds till complete collapse, with the saturating level of mana he received it from the seal. He quickly gets into his stance and chants his Noble Phantasm. The culmination of all his works.

_**I am the bone of my swords**_

9 seconds left till downfall. The sounds of fracturing ground only make things worse, nobody can keep the leveled head when death is getting more imminent and having no immediate solution for it would obviously make everyone panic.

_**Steel is my body, fire is my blood.**_

8 seconds left before all hope is lost. Things are in complete disarray, nobody is exhibiting their panic but deep inside their anxiety keeps climbing higher and higher.

_**I have created over a thousand blades**_

7 seconds left until everything they fought for ended in vain. The whirl of mana at Shirou's feet keep illuminating in bluish light, it has no use for illumination for everybody has already received the power of true sight from Alice.

_**Unknown to Death**_

6 seconds left before the worst possible outcome. Arnold only looks at everything as the whole world around him collapse, never once in his life that he felt this uneasy, even for the fact that he worked in the most dangerous profession in WW1.

_**Nor known to Life**_

5 seconds left before the truth is lost forever. Alice still has the same emotionless expression on her face as she keeps the sphere of void right in front of her to block everything the Beast may attempt to throw at her. Despite seemingly carry no feelings, that eyes of her tell that there is still hope, the fact that it exists mean there are more to what may being perceived here.

_**Have withstood pain to create many weapons**_

4 seconds left... no one has the spirit to ever raised a single word, the atmosphere is suffocating, what else is there but to bet on Shirou, the man that Chaldea Master has put his trust on?

_**Yet those hands will never hold anything**_

3 seconds left. They all watch as the ground near them begin to crumble, their heart is beating in anxiety as they tried to hold on to the last breath of sanity.

_**So as I pray...**_

2 seconds left. They stare at Shirou for they will enter the one-way path to hell.

_**Unlimited Blade Works**_

And within that last split second, the flame erupted from Shirou's feet and it quickly engulfs everything and everyone surrounding it, they reached even the Beast for he does not even know what he is supposed to expect from Shirou. And completely got overtaken by surprise at the surprisingly large effect radius of it.

And soon the whole mountain collapsed, leaving only the splash of rubble falling into the sea and soon only silence remained.

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_**Unlimited Blade Work**_

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Arnold stood there in bewilderment as this is the first time he ever found himself in a place of somebody's mind. A second ago, the mountain that he was standing on is crumbling and suddenly he got transported here. In his entire surroundings is a barren desert with blades and lances stabbed into the ground like grave markers on a wasteland.

"Was this some sort of battlefield that used to take place in the past? It's... oddly reminiscing. Perhaps it reminds me of the time I fight in the Great War. Not that it was anything great in the first place, at least the fallen here is remains in some form. The friends in my time just straight up forgotten and discarded..." Arnold thought as he checked the surrounding blades.

The smog surrounding him blocking his vision of the surroundings. The true sight gift that Alice has given seems to only allow him to ignore darkness, illusions, false notions and stuff that are made to mess with one's mind, the smog is real and it is here not to mess with anything, it just there. It is indeed a powerful gift in fact, just that he wonders what is this place exactly.

Suddenly, he noticed the blades started to root up and flying towards a direction. He then quickly chasing them and hope that it would lead him to his friends and allies.

The smog around him cleared up and soon he noticed the complete scenery of Shirou's Noble Phantasm. It's... like a steel mill. Gigantic and Monolithics gears rotating in the sky with some large clouds hanging over him with bright light filled the vision with the wall of flame at the distant horizon. But how should he put this? It's like a massive graveyard and the blades were oddly well-preserved, was he a grave keeper of some sort?

More blades are uprooted and keep flying in a direction towards one location. He then quickly tracing their path and soon found where the red-tanned Archer is.

Blades are flying at the Beast in drove and he is shooting down them while avoid getting hit by them. The Beast is oddly agile that he can actually run in an even manner against Shirou if he recalled correctly. The machine gun that the Beast is firing with is still ungodly obscene that it is a miracle that it still haven't meltdown now.

Well, that is what he thought, because the Beast in actuality replacing the barrel every time the thing overheats. And he does so extremely fast that no one would catch it.

"So you intend to stall this out even longer then. May your demise as agonizing and long as your persistent" Shirou said as he held his arms up to the sky.

Even more blades being plucked up and they quickly surrounding Severloh, Shirou then raised his command and every single blade that in the sky quickly rushes towards him. Severloh then raised his machine gun and just let loose the trigger and spin around his position. Once again, the machine gun that he used managed to clash against the 300000 RPM Final Conda and thus he just deflected all of the blades with a single spin.

"Tsk, nice try. But may God is with you because I am sure that he is already gone from this world, long ago." Shirou said unamusedly before he raised his hand again.

This time, he will use everything at his disposal and that means... _every single blade._ Ever since his summoning at Chaldea in its early day, he has constantly looked up and learned from many other Servants, from their way of combat, fighting, everything... And the most important part of it is their weapons, the weapon that made them the legends that they are now, especially those Knight Classes Servants. Because of that, his UBW's arsenal is always being expanded with each new Servant summoned and encountered. The reason why he cared about Chaldea so much is that it is his true deserved end after he went through hell and back for his ideal. Especially when he can finally save humanity without having to kill other humans.

And when one would look at the arsenal of Shirou's UBW, they would obviously know that it is undoubtedly huge. And to make it even worse for his enemy, he can use all of them to the closest of the original wielder. Another fact is that all weapons in UBW cost no mana to trace for he is already in his inner world, the only cost he would have to pay is the cost of upholding this reality marble which adds another reason to use it to full potential.

His hand raised up and all of the blades behind him started to rise upward to the sky, so much of them that it blotted out the sky and all of them are charging straight towards him. Severloh decided to fire first at Shirou but he has already jumped out of the way and taking many blades with him and fired at Severloh. Severloh managed to dodge them all but he then turned towards the rain of blade that is charging towards him like a dragon as if it would devour him whole.

Severloh quickly unleashes his machine gun at the dragon made out of steel. The torrents of bullets against storm made out of blades created massive deafening clashings that have no possible words to describe. The amounts of blades being hurled at him are obscene to the point that it just straight up a clashing between two disasters.

Arnold meanwhile staying away from a distance and looked at how everything unfolded. Everything just feels so unreal to him like he just suddenly got dropped into a world of fantasy. He tried to look for anywhere that he could find his partners but the storm of blades and bullets clashing against each other make it extremely tedious to do so. However, no matter how obstructed his visions are, he can't ignore that mountain in the distance. Decided that will be the place where he will be headed for so that he can scout for everyone else, he quickly springs into actions.

Even just a stray blade alone created a huge explosion upon landing, can one even imagine having a rain of them landing near you? Well, for Arnold that is just Tuesday for him since running while being fired upon by artillery barrages are just common sight for him back then, he still takes the most caution he could before he finally made it there in a timely manner.

The small mountain that houses many weapons of legend although he also noticing that there are some being plucked up and going to be used as ammunition for his barrage of blades. He then noticed someone, it is Alfin!

"Alfin!" Arnold yelled to get her attention.

Alfin noticed and waved her hand so that Arnold knows that she is fine. He then quickly climbing the mountain to get to her location. When he reached there, he also saw everyone else too, they actually meet up here.

"Everyone! Why are you guys gathered here?" Arnold asked.

"Because we are about to strike down the Beast at his very weakness. All Servants who were killed or died a non-peaceful death have a conceptual weakness to the said cause of death and can be potentially exploited that way. Although he wasn't killed or anything, his position got compromised and captured after the D-Day end. And you know why? He used up all of his ammo and forced to use tracer rounds and which caused him to get spotted and bombarded his position to oblivion. That's right, we will bombard his position and wear him down. When the perfect chance for him comes, that is when Shirou will put an end to all of this." Gudao explained.

So... they will be bombarding Severloh, some of his allies don't have the necessary ability to do so but Alfin would fill everybody's role when it comes to that. Having an entire armory including even field guns reserved as an ability just sounds freaking nice, isn't it?

"Understood... I shall then follow your order." Alfin said straightforwardly.

"Then why are you waiting for? Do it now!" Gudao said to her.

Soon mana started to radiate around her position as she activates her skill, the blazing portals appeared around her and cannons started to protrude through them. She then firing them towards Seerlloh's location. If it isn't going to kill him, it would definitely tire him out quicker. She knows for sure that no Servant can fight continuously with attacks that consume their mana rapidly without an additional source to complement to that cost. Sooner or later, it will be all lost for Severloh.

Shells and swords mixed up with each other, Severloh can't fire his machine gun at Shirou without being skewered by thousands of swords and now there are artillery shells mixed up in it and thus he is forced to run away from his position. Before he truly runs though, he aimed at the mountain where the shells were fired. And when the Chaldean Servants noticed, they quickly braced themselves.

Everyone was shaken but it was surprisingly not that bad like they thought. Turns out, before the majority of the bullets impacted, Shirou sent over a hail of swords that will act as the foundation of the barrier and Kiritsugu quickly removed the concepts of time from the blades with the power of his mage crest. That's what precisely happened, they built another barrier of timeless blades in split second. Although Kiritsugu was knocked back by the sheer shockwave of the impacts and how close he was to the proximity, he is still fine.

"Keep tiring him out, Alfin!" Gudao commanded her to push on forward.

Alfin simply nodded, she then focuses and quickly creates even more of those artilleries in order to boost even more the destructive power of each volley.

Meanwhile, Shirou is pursuing Severloh who is trying to fall back from him as fast as possible. The guy is starting to become more drained and realizes that the battle isn't going for his favor anymore. He overstayed the fight and now he will be paying it.

"You may try to run but you can't outrun me!" Shirou said as he speeds up although he may say it, he isn't exactly going to catch Severloh soon.

The clash between blades and bullets ere ceaseless, he swore that once he is done with this whole situation, he'll be hearing this for a long while.

"I need to end this battle right here, right now. His movements are showing signs of sluggishness telling that he is no longer at his best. If I remembered correctly, he was captured and thus I can believe that if I managed to get him into close-range combat, he won't be able to put up a fight. Perhaps..." Shirou thought.

Decided to put his faith in his experience with the twin blades again, he will finish off this fight once and for all. He traced them again, the Kanshou and Bakuya. The twin blade of yin and yang formed again on his hand and he quickly threw them into the path shaped of an arc that will intersect at Severloh. And within the next second, Severloh deflected the blades again, just like how he expected. The blades now formed again in his hands and he quickly charges towards him.

Is it suicidal? Yes? But does he come charge at other like a suicidal maniac unprepared for whatever attacks that may potentially kill him? Come on, what on earth do you think who Shirou Emiya is?

And just like what would have logically happened, Shirou got shot repeatedly in his gut to the point he almost got sawn in half. The pain quickly takes over him as he knelt to the ground. Severloh, however, finds it extremely weird how Shirou spent all of his efforts in order to take him down and suddenly just charge like an impatient idiot.

However, he noticed something is wrong, Shirou's wound is recovering quickly, too quickly for any healing NP he could think of. Severloh was in too great shock and he quickly tried to finish Shirou off by firing at his head. However, before he could do anything, something slashed through his torso. No, it was two things. He looked at the torso where it is starting to bleed profusely and then he looked forward only to learn that it was the two blades from before that he deflected from before. They... He fell for Shirou's ploy.

The pain started to seeping in, it started to become more uncontrollable and soon he fell to the back and no longer able to do anything anymore. Shirou then managed to pull himself up and the wound has already repaired itself. He looked down on Severloh who is looking back at him. Shirou then turned his eyes to the side and seeing the one sword that stands out entirely from the rest. The Excalibur, it shines majestically befitting the royal who fought for their belief. He smiled as if it was thanks to it that he managed to make all of these successful.

"Shirou, he..." Gudao gasps as he finds what Shirou did was impossible to believe.

Gudao then looks toward the top of the mountain and sees that one blade is missing, the Excalibur. Amidst all of those storms of blades and chaos, the Excalibur was pluck along with those common blades and thus it is so easy to miss it out. During those times back when he is dealing with Lostbelt, he always getting caught up in Shirou's UBW and the Excalibur on top of the mountain is a landmark that hardly anyone can miss.

"Haha... If you want to fool your enemy, you have to fool your allies first!" Kuro laughed as she witnesses the whole personal plan of her and her brother end in success.

"Kuro? What did you do?" Kiritsugu asked his daughter for he never thought somebody like her would walk two steps ahead of him.

"Let's just say... Our Master totally not seeing this coming either." Kuro said.

_**Flashback**_

"Oh... my... god... The light... is just so blinding... my head hurts from it alone... despite I have covered my eyes..." Kuro said as she tries to pull her composure back up after seeing the aura blast of Alice.

"Damn... Just what on earth is she?" Shirou said as he tried to clear his mind up after getting hit by such a blinding attack like that.

Suddenly, he heard something ringing. It is the Shadow Border communicator! And Gudao also seems to be knocked out cold, it will be a while before he would get up. Shirou grabbed the communicator first and answered it.

"Is everyone alright!? All of our observation feeds crashed when we witnessed the blast unfold and we worried that something bad has just happened to everyone. Hic... I'm so glad that everyone is okay..." Da Vinci said while trying to stop her tears from flowing.

"Damn, the whole observation chamber crashed? Never have I thought something like that is possible..." Shirou said as he finds in unbelievable.

"Well, thanks. But where is our Master!?" Da Vinci asked again.

"Don't worry, he is knocked out but he is fine regardless." Shirou said.

"Good to know then, shall I close the communication down now?" Da Vinci asked.

Shirou was about to say yes if the lips reading is any correct. However, he changed his mind in the last second.

"Da Vinci, can I talk with Artoria for a bit?" Shirou asked.

"Okay then, I shall transfer the call to her, Shirou" Da Vinci said happily.

Shirou stares intently at the communicator, the view in it quickly turned towards Artoria.

"Shirou! Thank god that you are okay..." Artoria said to her in worry that something might have happened to him

"Don't worry, Artoria. It just that something in my mind is telling me to see you again. And... I want to see _it_ again" Shirou said to her.

Shirou didn't mention _what _exactly but Artoria understands it in an instant. She quickly going out of the screen and then brings him the very thing he asked. When he laid eye on it, he can't help himself but smile.

"Thanks, Artoria. For staying with me since day one. You always help me with everything and I am glad to have you... as my wife..." Shirou said.

"Oh god, Shirou. Please don't make this look like a farewell." Artoria laughs as she knew well that Shirou won't risk anything without ensuring his victory.

"Heh, you know me well... By the way, please make sure our Master knows naught of what I am about to do. The plan needs the least amount of arbitrary factors as possible." Shirou laughed along with Artoria before telling the part of his plan.

"Understood then, wish you luck." Artoria said her goodbye.

Shirou then turned the communicator off and then put it back into Gudao's pouch. And soon enough after that, Gudao woke up not knowing of the conversation Shirou had.

"What on earth happened?" Gudao said as he lies on the rooftop with his vision started to slowly cleared up from that pure white vision.

_**Back to present**_

"And that's how everything unfolded. While it may be Onii-chan's plan to be more exact, I have played the majority of its part and make sure that nobody knows about it until the plan brought to its fruition. The more elaborate the plan, the higher the chance that external factors would ruin it. And so Onii-chan kept it straightforward with the least amount of people knows as possible." Kuro said.

"Sigh... while I felt ashamed of myself for getting overtaken like that. I also feel proud that you managed to outwit me like that, I didn't know anything about the plan that your brother devised and the fact that I didn't pick anything strange up proves how much you have grown. The apple sure doesn't fall far from the tree, isn't it?" Kiritsugu said.

"Well... All well is end well... But what exactly was _it _that Shirou meant?" Gudao asked.

Before any answer could be given, the surroundings started to turn white. The Reality Marble is being retracted and soon they will return back to the real world. They have finally defeated the Beast and so there is no longer any reason to stay here.

Soon, it is all just white as it flashes brightly before anyone could tell the transition from Shirou's inner world and the real one.

* * *

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_**Light At The End of Darkness**_

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* * *

They all have returned to the real world, but the thing is that Shirou used UBW on top of a soon-to-be collapsed mountain. And since that mountain is gone. The only thing that would soon follow is everyone freefalling towards the seawater below them. They knew that they won't die from falling, if they didn't take Severloh out, the seawater will consume them away. But since the guy is also freefalling at his worst possible state, Shirou traced his bow so that he will deal the killing blow on Severloh.

Well, that is what he intended. Hadn't for the fact that Severloh is also having something with him that allows him to retreat like how Rommel did. He pressed it and suddenly a blast of disorienting noises and flashes followed which hampered with everyone's sense. When their perceptions finally returned to normal, Severloh is gone, not even a trace of him remains.

"Damn it! Not again!" Kiritsugu said after having experienced it first hand before this.

At least with Severloh retreated, his Noble Phantasm will cease to work. The seawater will fall down and it will become just a flat out seawater, not a goddamn river of Styx.

Landed on the top of what was left of the mountain with the seawater still flooding everywhere, but at least they started to show signs of draining down.

"Man... Can we ever have a day of not fighting anyone at all." Arnold said as he started to lies on the rubble for there isn't anything else, he is tired of all of these constant fighting and he wanted to rest.

Larry has also woke up and learned that he just completely missed everything that happened. Desmond who has also woken up and found out that his right leg is completely gone, although he seems oddly calm despite being one leg short.

"Guess we will be waiting here for a while." Pierce said as he sits down on the most comfortable spot he could find.

Everyone talked with each other for a while and then they realized that the night is ending, the sky started to brighten although the clouds are also returning after Alice's aura blast. They can't help but think about Alice's capability, especially after what she just did throughout the night. Shirou though just decided to coin her as not-Void-Shiki for how uncaring they are when it comes to life and death situation and how they make everything looks like a child play.

"What Void Shiki said that there is somebody here has the power equals to her. And Alice is pretty much fitting that bill right now. But did she ever say that it has to be necessarily an enemy?" Shirou thought as he leans against the rubble.

Soon the daybreak approaches, and their fight is still going to continue. For each new day they reached is an invaluable present that has nothing else having enough worth to trade for.


	14. Departure in Regret

**Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

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_**Chapter 14: Departure in Regret**_

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Arnold's soon closed his eyes and soon he drifted into his sleep. Within that floating emptiness, his mind searches for the lost fragments of his past. He knew his story hasn't ended yet and so he wanted to look to the very bottom of it. When he did so, he saw a glimmering light from a distance and soon he reached out for it.

The light soon engulfed him and he is transported to another fragment of memory.

The blinding light died down and soon he found himself in... a cellar? Why does he reach out for Alfin's memory of all time? Isn't he already witness till the end of her story?

_**Words of God: **__** For this part, play Kirby Canvas Curse - Drawcia Sorceress - itoki hana**_

Or was it truly ended there at all?

Arnold takes a look around the cellar to see if there is any difference, he could list up quite a few just from a glancing view. The paintings are gone, most likely have been burnt up and she soon never motivate herself to draw any more art. The place is bloody humid that it is just suffocating despite there's a window there and-

It is raining... How long was it since the last time something happened here?

He then walked downstairs and soon he heard a loud thud from the ground floor. He then quickly made it down there as soon as possible and noticed that someone is lying there while having shortness of breath. It's Alfin's mom!

"Don't tell me she contracted some illness?!" Arnold thought as he watching her gasping for air in pain.

He then looked at the surroundings and noticed that the place has been decaying for it is not maintained for a while, and then the final evidence came to his sight. it is Alfin but she is older now, having a closer appearance to the Servant's version of her. The outbreak of the past wouldn't literally last for a massive amount of time and thus Alfin's mother must have caught by a different disease than the one that took her brother away.

"Mother, what's wrong!" Alfin quickly approaches her to check what's wrong.

Alfin doesn't have that much medical knowledge and the fact that she might also likely have dropped out of school after murdering her father also bolster that fact. Her sister has also noticed and they together carrying their mother into her room. The house that they live in is running down and the fact that their source of income also severely jeopardized after their father's death. But despite that fact, they still live with each other happily, until now that is.

"Sis, I will get a doctor to check our mother's condition. Please watch over her in case something turns for the worse." Alfin's sister said to her.

Alfin simply nodded and her sister then runs out of the room, most likely to get a doctor somewhere nearby. Alfin meanwhile quickly tried to find any way to help, but she doesn't know what to do. She tried to check her mother's condition and decided to at least undress her first. When she finally did so, she falls back in shock to see the illness that plagued her mother. Arnold also sees it and also have that same reaction.

She is suffering from cancer and its symptom is too obvious for anyone to dictate otherwise. No matter what you tried to say about that lump swollen on her chest, that thing is obviously cancer. Having an illness like this is obviously death, there is no possible treatment for this in this era. And to make that matter worse, she might have that thing from much earlier and deliberately hiding it from her daughters. Now, when the thing has reached its final stage, death is the only thing that could free her of her suffering.

Alfin cries, she doesn't know what to do in a time like this. She doesn't want her mother to die for she is the last vestige of hope for her in this cruel world. Tears that won't stop falling from her eyes as she keeps bawling at her on the soon-to-be death bed.

Arnold can't do anything but to look at the depressing sight in front of him. Until he heard something from downstairs and Alfin seems to notice it too. He quickly got down there and Alfin also does it too.

However, the moment he got close to the door, his body went stiff from the sheer aura of dread and malice that is being emanated. Whatever that is, it is definitely not the doctor or Alfin's sister at all. Alfin seemingly ignores all of those warnings and opened the door. When she did so, a single word runs through Arnold's mind

_Shit_

The door opened and shows a man dressed in black priest clothes and wearing a hat with red silk circled around it and a red scarf around his neck and a dark side bag that contains something. Arnold wanted to slam the door off but he is intangible in this memory and thus he got no choice but to see how Alfin will react. He noticed her hesitation as if she doesn't sure if this is a good idea or not.

"I'm a Jewish doctor who is specialized in treatments of various diseases, I noticed that someone from your house is running and looking for a doctor. I guessed that somebody here is sick or something. Can I take a look so that I can at least keep her alive until the proper help come?" The mysterious man said to Alfin.

Arnold knows too damn well that is a lie, such extreme malice and dread that his intuition picked up have never failed him even once in guessing others' underlying motives. But... how could Alfin possibly know that he is lying or not? She is facing two choices, risk having the mysterious man check up on her mother or leaving her mother to her death.

Arnold knew that nothing good is going to come out of either of these. Suffering is always at the end of each of her memory and the world would be damned if anything involving her not ending in tragedy or heartbreak.

"I understand then... She is on the first floor, please do anything you can to cure her of whatever disease plaguing her." Alfin said to the man reluctantly.

"Then please wait patiently, and do not enter the room without any good reason." The man said to her before he heads there himself.

Arnold knew that is what going to happen, but he can hardly blame her for doing so. But he can't help himself but notice that devious smile hidden in that man's face. Something bad is going to happen, he just knew it for sure. He quickly followed upstairs and tried to enter the room that Alfiin's mother is placed at. But... he can't phase through it anymore. That man... did he locked the whole place and barred entry of anything spiritually?. When did he get everything set up this quick!? Alfin also tried to get in but she can't due to the knob refused to budge.

Having no choice but to wait for the whole thing to play out, he knew that this is going to end really messy. Soon, he sits there while time is flying by, the waiting is killing him and he felt that he can't just keep this on any longer.

In two hours later, somebody returned home, he watches as the door sprang open with two people. Alfin's sister and the doctor that she brought along. He looks a lot more like what you would think of when you said 'doctor'. White hair and beard, wearing a coat and a rosary on his neck and unusually muscular.

"Where's the patient, I need to check her up!" The doctor asked as he tried to quickly find where the patient is.

Alfin's sister point to the room on the first floor and the doctor quickly gets to the door of the room. He tried to grab for the knob but before he did so, he stops suddenly like something just changed his mind. Arnold also got to the door of the said room and the extreme aura of malice is sickening that it is nauseous. No wonder that even the doctor got into the state of mental overload.

The doctor then suddenly runs away and exits the house, both Alfin and her sister watch in shock of how he decided to run away like that. Not only Alfin's sister's effort all fall into waste but Alfin has also potentially unleashed the possible horror that is about to befall on them. Arnold felt the malice from the room is growing even more and he started to fear of how things will turn out.

Suddenly, some people burst into the house and quickly mobilize towards the entrance of the locked room. They are dressing priest clothing and wearing rosaries. In their hands are long and rapier-like blades with extremely short hilts. Alfin and her sister are in confusion of what is going on, not even Arnold can process what is exactly happening right now.

And the doctor from before also returned with a serious expression, completely different than before. He then slowly approaching the door with caution and seems to mumble some sorts of incantation or something.

Suddenly something burst through the door and knocked the doctor away, within those split second, he managed to block it with the same blades that Arnold saw from other priests and reduced the damage inflicted greatly. Although it did nothing about the knockback he received and thus burst through the wall and created a massive hole in the aftermath. Arnold who was close by noticed that it is a tentacle of sorts as it sloshing blood everywhere.

Alfin and her sisters are watching horror as that 'thing' wiggles around then retract into the room. Alfin's sister fainted from the overwhelming sight of it and the other priests quickly take her away to safety. Alice is in a state of great confusion about what is going on right now. The same could also be said to Arnold for he isn't understanding a single bit of what is going on. Are they exorcists or something? What the hell in this accursed world is that man!?

The exorcists quickly throw their blades into the door and then saying some sorts of incantation. The door then burst into flame and quickly turned into ashes.

"Dead Apostle sighted, prepare to exterminate!" One of the exorcists said.

At this point, the line between reality and fantasy is completely blurred. It is like suddenly stepping into some sort of twisted horror story without even knowing when or anything at all. Everything just suddenly getting painted in blood and tears.

Almost like some sort of delusion, Alfin slowly back off and then runs off into the back. Arnold tried to process everything that is unfolded and then he looks at the inside of the room, all he could say is: "Dear lord..."

Not even the reality of war is as disgusting as this, the whole room splattered in blood and gore. Bloody tentacles splurted out of Alfin's mother's corpse as it strangles the exorcists like nothing. That mysterious man now Arnold knows as Dead Apostle is feasting upon the blood of those people who tried to fight against him. Alfin's single action results in the death of those people.

A man got tossed outside the room with a massive neck bite wound that is bleeding nonstop. He then fell down the stairs and lies unconscious there, dead is all but assure for him. Arnold can't do anything at all because he is still a spirit here, and he further cursing himself for always being useless. He doesn't even know what on earth is the monstrosity right in front of him. Monster? Demon? Vampire? Whatever it is, it is definitely not human!

The doctor that got knocked outside quickly bursts through the hole again and resulted in massive wreckage, he charging inside with the blades held between his fingers in each hand in 'fan formation'. The tentacles quickly lunge at him with great speed but the doctor quickly throws them right at their shadows and suddenly they were paralyzed and unable to move.

Closing down the distance between him and the Dead Apostle, he quickly threw those blades at the Dead Apostle but the DA deflected them with the bloody claws for his hand.

The doctor and the DA clashes with each other repeatedly, sparks of blood fly everywhere in this bloodstained room. The tentacles that keep burst up from the corpse of Alfin's mother tried to kill the doctor by piercing him through the heart. However, he is ungodly dexterous that even when surrounded, he can still keep up.

Arnold looked at the whole room in complete shock. At least in his war, the blood and gore would soon disappear into the mud. But here? Those things are as clear as red paint on an empty canvas.

How long did the battle go on? One hour? Two hours? Three? He doesn't even know anymore. The world around him just started to slow down as the doctor can't keep up the fight extensively against the like of Dead Apostle. Soon his arm got shackles by the blood tentacles, the victory all seem to belong to the Dead Apostle.

"You are sure is a level above those Exorcists that you brought along aren't you, because after all, you're an Executioner in disguise so that you can hunt me after you learned of my presence." The Dead Apostle said mockingly at the doctor.

The doctor doesn't say anything. In his eyes, the Dead Apostle in front of him is a heretic that has to be exterminated. He tried to break out of the tentacles' grip but the Dead Apostle started to grip his throat with the bloodstained claw of his. The doctor felt that the claw will pierce into his throat's artery if any second will pass any longer.

And just like that, the Dead Apostle smirked for believing that victory is his, only for one thing he didn't expect completely turned the table against him

*BANG!*

A massive hole burst through the Dead Apostle's chest. Completely surprised at how there is something is actually capable of hurting him, the doctor took advantage of it and quickly break free out of the tentacles' grip and quickly pin the Dead Apostle against the ground.

And at behind the brawl that is going on, was Alfin. In her hands... are the double-barrel shotgun. The very same one that her father killed her dog... The thing is one of its first kinds and it received bloodlust of a madman and a kill list with only an innocent in it, now with a sinner added along. Alfin is staring unto the brawl that is unfolding in front of her, with eyes as empty as the abyss.

The doctor impaled the Dead Apostles as many of those blades as possible. The Dead Apostle tried to command the tentacles to kill the doctor but all of it for some reason just stood there like nothing. His command fell into the deaf ears as he was soon immobilized after being impaled by dozens of them. All of them are stabbed with actual purposes behind, he is preparing an exorcising ritual in order to banish the Dead Apostle right immediately.

He stood up while his clothes are stained with blood, he begins the chanting his banishing incantation. The Dead Apostle screams in horror as he is about to face true death. It is only a fitting end for a monster driven by bloodlust and finds the suffering of other humans entertaining. Alfin stood there and looked at the Dead Apostle in the eyes. The Dead Apostle stares back and suddenly scream even in more horror. Her eyes that are so empty it makes even the innocents confess.

Soon a blinding light blasts from where the Dead Apostle is being pinned down. And that monster is no longer exist in this world anymore. The doctor then proceeds to approach Alfin and putting his hand on her forehead. He's...

He's erasing her memory of the event transpired here! Alfin quickly screams as she tried to desperately stop the doctor from removing the memory of her mother. It was a battle of inner worlds. Where she desperately tried to pull her mother away from the doctor who is also pulling away from Alfin, the thing can be described like a tug-o-war with Alfin's mother being the rope.

But just how much can Alfin measure up against an experienced Executioner? The man decided to be serious with it and pulled Alfin's mother away from her. She fell to the ground as her vision of her mother and the doctor faded away into nothingness. She keeps staring into it, the nothingness as if to find any reason left to even live in this world.

Blood started to appear everywhere, she looks into her hand and started to hallucinating blood on it. She tried to wipe them away but it is still there, she started to cry as it was her very own action that resulted in this whole mess. She not only made her mother went through the most violent and horrible death one could possibly think of, but she also has caused so many lives lost in all of those hours. If she didn't let him in, the only thing that happens would be her mother's death, there won't be anyone who gets caught into this mess.

Soon... she finds herself stands in an ocean of blood and Arnold for some reason is also drawn into it too. She looked up to the sky with her bloodstained face.

And then... he heard something snapped. It was the same feeling he felt when Alfin murdered her father in cold blood. Soon, the sky has fallen into fragments as this fever dream is about to reach its conclusion.

...

...

...

He woke up and realized that the whole room is completely cleaned, not a single drop of blood, not even the corpse that has tentacles sprung all over it like a goddamn eldritch horror. Nothing... It was... completely wiped clean as if nothing had ever happened.

Alfin is lying there motionlessly like it was all of a bad dream to her. She then wakes up and then suddenly looked around, Arnold has a bad feeling about this. Her memory of that event, it wasn't wiped completely. The bond of her with her mother is too great to be separated by any form of thaumaturgy. She quickly rushes out of the room and tried to find where her mother is. She threw the whole house upside down as she desperately searching for her.

And she then came across her sister who was supposed to have fainted if the original event is any indicating. Alfin asked where is their mother but only to be answered with.

"Our mother? I'm afraid that she died of cancer this afternoon. The doctor told us that it has reached its final stage and her life is within hours of closing to death. We said goodbye to our mother, right?" Alfin's sister said to her.

It is a massive contradiction to what she remembered. Of course... they would also wipe the memory of everyone who was involved, even her sister, even her...

Something in her mind cracked, Arnold swore that he could hear it. He wishes that his mind not playing trick but the possibility that her sanity is cracking up is becoming more apparent

"Don't tell me... She is going insane!?" Arnold thought as he observes her carefully.

Alfin then knelt to the ground, and then she laughed hysterically. She has truly gone mad from the death of her mother and what transpired. She loathes this whole world to her very soul. Her sister can only gasp in horror as she witnesses her sister breakdown in front of her.

Suddenly, Alfin rushes out of the house, running while the rain outside is still going on. She just runs anywhere her legs could carry her, she has no destination, no hope of the future, nothing in mind. She runs for the sake of running away from the tragedy that happened.

The night that she ran away, was as dark as her fate...

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Uneasy Feelings**_

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* * *

Arnold wakes up completely exhausted, never once have a nightmare were this horrifically. People sleep so that they can energize themselves, not making their next day completely miserable. He scratches his eyes for a bit to clear his vision and he suddenly sees Alfin closes up. So close that he has a panic attack despite having no mental difficulty that results in it.

"Arnold? Are you alright?" Alfin asked.

Arnold tried to slow down his breath and calm himself down. But when he thinks about it more and more, he realized that he is receiving a lot more of Alfin's memory than his. It is precisely because of it that he felt so uneasy about what is going to happen. Something will unfold and it will involve Alfin by a huge factor. It also surprises him that this is also the same girl who loathed the world with her whole life.

He stood up and checked the surroundings, the sky is cloudy again and the rain has also started to fall. It is midday now if the light is any indicating.

He looked at the allies who are with him even until now. Desmond seems to have his right leg filled in with a prosthetic sent over by the Chaldea and he seems to use it well as if it was his own original leg.

"Thanks for your help, I would never think it would be possible for you to sent over something like this." Desmond said.

"Don't worry about it. It is just simply our way of making sure that everyone would make it to the end." Gudao said to Desmond.

And he looks to a different direction and seeing that the unusual family is having their time together. Seeing them makes him think about the bloody mess that was called Alfin's family and her downfall from it, literally.

"Onii-chan! Can I have another serving?" Illya said to her brother.

What they are cooking on is just simply a campfire and a pot of assorted ingredients and hung above it. It just so simple like that but he remembers that his time in actual war is no different. Seeing them happy like this makes him feel that things could have gone better for Alfin but fate decided to make her its toy and soon discard her when it got bored of her.

Arnold sighed, he wonders how things will play out from here onward. The line of fantasy and reality is long gone and he got no choice but to accept that things can only keep turning for the worse without any stop. All stops are pulled, he is in this together with everyone else.

He looked up at the sky once more as if searching for any higher power being looked down on him like some sorts of entertainment but once again, the rain is the only answer being given. He got tired of stretching these whole suffocating feelings of his and wanted an answer to this.

The seawater has drained away completely, everyone can now move towards the fourth wall and begins the next operation.

"Hey buddy, it looks like you aren't feeling well, aren't ya?" Larry said as he pats on Arnold's shoulder.

Larry isn't wrong, he never has once felt so tired and uneasy like this before. He may find himself confident enough to face the task head-on but he can't shake off the anxiety of something really horrible that might happen. There is nothing more anxious than having a prediction of something and then suddenly having no answer to it.

"I'm fine... Just don't tell the others of what is going through my mind right now." Arnold said to Larry.

Larry usually would pry further because he knows that having such underlying factors isn't going to help anyone. But he ain't risking his actions to remove them if it only results in more and so he decided to respect Arnold's privacy instead.

"Okay, everyone? Shall we go now?" Gudao said.

And so everyone continues their journey, the 4th wall's size is so large that it can be seen on the horizon. Knowing what is about to unfold, everyone puts their trust in Alfin, knowing that she has the capability to solo against the garrison of the wall itself.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**The Bell Toll For Thee**_

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* * *

Soon enough, they reached the fourth wall. After having the majority of its force suddenly got annihilated last night, this place is strengthened beyond everyone's imagination in order to recompensate for the loss that they were forced to endure.

So much artilleries, they will completely replace the whole rain that is landing on them right now for each drop with a shell. The land right in front of the wall is filled with tons of anti-tank spikes and tank blockers. They have completely replaced the whole patch of ground with littering steel.

And if that isn't enough, they have stationed a whole ton of Tiger right in front of the wall and so when anything tried to invade will pretty much get destroyed before reaching them.

In other words, just like what the third wall is but overdosing on steroids. Attempting to take this wall down will require the force of hundreds of Servants and casualties will obviously occur.

"Alice... Will you be alright?" Arnold asks anxiously, fearing that this might going to be her end.

"Don't worry, Arnold... Just like the previous time, I will still prevail against them no matter what." Alfin reassures her partner.

And just before she actually moves forward a single step, something pulled her back. She turned around and saw Alice holding her from moving by the shoulder.

"Alice?" Alfin asked if there is anything wrong.

"Alfin... Let me handle this..." Alice said with an expressionless face.

Alfin not particularly understands what Alice is trying to do. But after witnessing how she fight in last night, it might be better to leave it in her care.

"Fine... I don't know what you are going to do but I doubt it is going to not result in complete annihilation on a massive scale." Alfin said as she worries that Alice is going to create a massive catastrophe that in the aftermath that they are going to deal with it instead of the wall.

"Alice... Just don't go overboard with your power, please..." Arnold asked Alice to not use drastic measures.

Alice simply nodded and then moves forward, she then slightly levitates and slowly moves toward the wall. Needless to say though, the wall garrison quickly reacts in drastic measures and quickly flooded the space in front of her with an ungodly amount of ballistics before a second could pass.

She still having an uncaring look on her face as if all of those are just like dust on the wind. She blinked and those things just vanish, not a single trace remained. The power scaling of her is just too ridiculous for any possible word in human's dictionary to convey. Even the Chaldeans behind her are dumbfounded to witness an extremely small and minuscule fraction of her power in action.

Also, all of those spikes and tank stoppers are gone too, it was as if she has the power to erase anything at her sights at will. Now those Tigers are rushing at her with subsonic speed which is an action completely undisplayed from before as if there is something allowed them to do so. But no matter what they may throw at Alice, none of them will invoke any form of emotions from her.

She then lands on the ground and crossed her right arm across her face, she closed her eyes as she chanting somethings. Mana started to swirl around her own feet with potency completely trumps over even Divine Spirits, there was so much being emitted that the ground around her is shaking violently like when the meteor that wiped the dinosaurs away is localized at the mere 2 meters radius around her.

Azure aura wrapping around her right arm as it started to form something around it. Soon a blast of aura was unleashed, pushing the air around her away like a 'category 5' hurricane. And on her right arm is what can be called a massive gauntlet made for the titan, forged entirely out of True Ether and illuminating in azure and she is wearing it like some sorts of exoskeleton built-in weapons in video games. And one more important thing, it is fucking huge, so huge that even a King Tiger looks like a vertically challenged person.

"Akashic Arm!" Alice said the name of the technique before rushing forward.

She then charges toward them and before anyone could process their eyes' frame rate. And all of the Tigers charging at her is all annihilated into nothing. The speed she did so might have also broken the theory of relativity itself.

One more thing, to say that she annihilated them is a fucking huge understatement of great measure. Annihilation is the process of unleashing all matter-energy due to the interaction of matter and anti-matter. The result is nonetheless mutual destruction with a massive amount of energy unleashed in the process.

After all of the Tigers were wiped out, she then looks at the wall. In just a moment later, she then snaps her fingers and suddenly, all of the heavy weaponry blew up in azure flames. All of them, Tigers, King Tigers, heavy artilleries, anything. All went up in flame and turned into ashes.

Everyone became astonished at her power. Her power being displayed like this almost making things look like that she wrote how this entire world work.

The remaining infantries are now mass charging at her, so many of them that it makes it looked like the whole war is being unfolded right in front of everyone.

"Void Field..." Alice cast something and then everyone's expression suddenly turned into something else.

She is about to unleash something extremely destructive that she has to use Void Field on everyone else to prevent friendly fire. The last time she used it is when the V2 Rocket is about to detonate. Now, she is using it to protect everyone else from her attack's effect. Just what on earth would warrant her to cast it on her friend like this?

The ultimate defense NP that she cast, she is about to do something that would wipe the whole place away or even erase it all from this world. Everyone looks in anticipation of what she might do.

The army of Azure Soldiers charging towards her like a tsunami that would engulf even the most fortified city, it was as if the only thing that drives them is madness and feral rage. Even then, Alice still has that emotionless face of her against the army that would make even Servants felt that they are going to enter their last battle.

She took out a bell in her pocket, one that is small enough to fit in her palm. She calmly holds it by her two fingers and then slightly ring it. Due to everyone else is under the effect of Void Field, they didn't hear what it sounds like exactly. And it is best for them to never know that at any time in their lifespans as long as they still want to live.

The soldiers suddenly collapse and they started to trip over on top of each other, they started to dissipate into earthly dust itself. Not even azure ashes, just dust... Soon the dust completely filled the atmosphere, replaced the whole feral rage of azure into earthly gray dust.

Everyone became completely astonished by how she has such a powerful Noble Phantasm like this. The fact that the Nazis made such a careless work when it comes to containing her is just going to show how incompetence most of them are.

Soon, the Void Field wear off and Arnold quickly came to hug her. Although he may have suspected that she may have ulterior motives but he finds that is at least a concrete proof that she is actually truly within his side.

Considering that the fourth wall's garrison sent everything at them and still got defeated like this. The whole place is now desolated without any trace of enemy remain.

"At least the path is clear for us to go. Alfin, you get the honor of taking down this wall-slash-fortress." Arnold said to her after letting Alice go.

Alfin nodded, she quickly created the blazing portals around her and bring out the biggest caliber she has. Shirou seeing it reminds him of Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon but he decided to just brush it off as coincidence. They may have some similarities but the difference is still too great.

However, before Alfin fired any of her shots. The ground shook violently, that everyone lost their balance. This sudden turns of events quickly threw everybody off guard as they realized that this isn't the end yet.

"What's going on!? Why is there a tremor right now?!" Larry asked as he tried to balance himself.

Soon, the tremor stopped, leaving everybody in a state of disarray. They quickly pulled themselves up and tried to discern the source of the tremor based on what they could discern from.

And then they directed their gazes towards one humongous figure from the distance, one that its size is so large that the fog enveloping the place couldn't make its presence any less obvious. Soon, its figure pierced through the fog and shows its true appearance.

"I think it is safe to assume that London has indeed fallen." Kiritsugu lets out his words as he witnesses the absolute size of the massive archaism he sees.

"And the Mage Association too..." Shirou follows up with his father.

The archaism they witness right now... It is built with the Clock Tower as the body of it. The London Overwatcher... that is what they decided to dub it at the moment.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**The Overwatcher**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

The thing is estimated to be about 50 meters tall which the actual clock tower is 40m at most. But considering what the Nazi has under their sleeves, it is not out of the realm of possibility that they might have somehow managed to amplified its power with mana to an ungodly degree. It moves on a quadrupedal base and the clock itself is replaced with what appears to be a mechanical eye that acts as a monitor or something. And surrounding it is a barrier which is guessed to be used as protection against any attack that might possibly be used against it. Seeing it, they knew that there is no easy way out against this.

Arnold knew his hands are tied if he is up against this. He has no Anti-Fortress NP nor anything has enough power to counter the like of this. But then he suddenly realized, Alfin has the solution or even Alice.

"Watch out!" Gudao yelled as somethings quickly approach them.

Arnold breaks out of his thought and noticed a massive barrage of missiles are rushing towards his position and everyone else's. His feet tried to quickly jump out of its way but he realized that the things are locked-on at him, they are going to hit him no matter what-

**_Trace on! time alter zeroth stagnant_**

In the next instant, the whole hail of homing missiles was completely blocked by the timeless blades. After that, everyone quickly checks on each other's condition so that they can quickly decide what to do next.

But for some reason, he felt his 'heart' beats slightly faster when he heard the word "zeroth". If he remembers anything correctly, he was never a scholar or a mathematician, he was a soldier. A life that is thrown for somebody else's war. He doesn't even know if there is any hope of a good future left for him there. But then, why? Why does he get so attracted to a number zero like that?

Division by zero is a fallacy in itself. In which it is an attempt to fill in a nonexistent value. In other words, a value that never existed, to begin with. Zeroth stagnant is another word for the removal of the concept of time itself. To lock it in place and it will never gain any value or experience but it will never change either, no matter what force was applied to.

Breaking out of his thought again, he knows that he has to do something. Another hail of missiles inbound and he once again has to hide behinds the timeless blades themselves. To stuck in a deadlock without a solution to breakthrough, he knew well that somebody will have to take action or that London Overwatcher will approach them and crush them underneath its foot.

After the barrage ceased, Alfin jumped out first and turned towards the Overwatcher and quickly crouched at the grounds and creating two blazing portals around the ground and side by side where she is positioned at. Tripoded machine guns rise up from it and stacked on top of each other, she then drew out her pistol but there is one thing about it caught his eyes, the pistol was forged in gold.

Now, this started to make Arnold think something was amiss. After the end of her latest memory fragment, he sees her running away from her house after the tragedy that takes place there. But what on earth happened between there the last part of her childhood and her now? Why did she become a warlord of all things? How did she amass enough wealth to forge a pistol entirely out of gold!? These burning questions needed an answer and he doubts he would receive it at all.

She then fires her pistol and the rest of the machine guns fired at where she aimed her pistol at. The missiles were quickly shot down and detonated in mid-air before it could do any damage to others. At this point, quantity over quality is the only way to go.

"Arnold! Follow me!" Alfin said to Arnold.

Arnold quickly tried to run out of the barrier's cover and he turned back towards the London Overwatcher. He noticed that something is charging within its 'eye' and realized that it is about to do what he is about to say.

"Everyone! Get out of the cover now! It is about to unleash an unblockable attack!" Arnold said to everyone who is trying to take cover.

The moment he let out those words, everyone there quickly jumped out of the cover and quickly run away from it as far as they could. Arnold and Alfin follow the suits and jumped out of where the Overwatcher might shoot at.

Soon a laser shot out of the 'eye' of the Overwatcher and it annihilated everything in its path. Not even the timeless blades managed to withstand it. Arnold who is still dazed from the sheer blast of the laser tried to focus his vision so that he can stop the shellshock effect itself. And then he heard someone reaching out to him.

"Arnold, get here now!" Alfin said to him while she is sitting on the front seat of a... car?

Arnold decided to not ask the detail right now. Alfin might possibly have a solution and thus he quickly jumped on it. The car looks like an extremely old model, at least by modern age standard. An MG42 is installed on the back of the car so that he can fire at anything that tried to pursue them.

After Arnold got on it, Alfin quickly full throttles the car as it moves away from the Overwatcher as fast as possible. Although the ruined road makes it hard to do so, the Servant's modifier at least managed to make sure it can withstand all sorts of non-Servant harm.

"So where do we go now!?" Arnold asked.

"We'll head for a mountain, if I had enough mana or raw materials, I can unleash the full potential of my Soulburst Forge and my true Noble Phantasm." Alfin said to Arnold.

Arnold heard what she said but for some reason, he felt a hint of sadness in it. He then started to fear that the full power of her Noble Phantasm will consume her away in the end. He fears that she will sacrifice herself just so everyone can have their chance.

The Overwatcher, of course, didn't overlook them because after all, that thing is a weapon of mass destruction, made to kill the most and effectively as possible. It fires a salvo of homing missiles at them in an attempt to kill them.

Arnold detected the missiles and quickly uses the machine gun to shot them down before it reaches them. The sheer firing rate of the machine gun alone is staggering that it felt comparable to the Final Conda. After he managed to secure their safety by shooting them all down, he let go of the trigger and sees the barrel of the gun heated up to the point the air around it started to warp.

Arnold feels that something bad is going to happen, the further he traveled the louder the voice inside his head telling it. He knew that he is heading towards a very hard decision but seeing Alfin gazing emptily but still focus on her actions, he knew that it is inevitable but to deal with it when the time has finally come.

Reaching the closest mountain on the distance which is 1 kilometer from the wall and ironically back at where the Beast dug up the whole place, this place's surroundings was also a densely populated area but now completely abandoned. Apartments, warehouses, industrial complexes, everything she needed is here. Due to their car is not an off-road type, it was a struggle to reach there but not too much time was wasted doing so. When they have finally reached the top of the mountain, Alfin got out of her car and then walks forward.

Arnold tried to do the same but before he started to stand up, Alfin said to him.

"Arnold, you stay in that car..." Alfin told Arnold.

Arnold stopped suddenly when he heard it, confused at what she is trying to mean here. However, when Alfin finally turned her face around, Arnold saw those lines of tear flowing on her cheeks. Her words are filled with sorrow that one can't help but feel down. He started to remember one sentence she did say before.

_Can you even imagine an outcome for a life that never knew love, that didn't end in heartbreak or tragedy?_

Those words ring true even right now, she was too far gone in her original life and the same can only happen to her no matter what he may try to do. As he stranded deep in his thought, he noticed that Alfin is approaching closer and then she placed her hand on the car's hood.

"Farewell, Arnold... May you forgive me for what I am about to do..." Alfin said as she pushes the car downhill.

The moment those words reached Arnold, he entered a state of disbelief. He could have jumped out of the car just to say that he cared about her and won't let her go but he was in too great shock and all he can do is to stare at nothing while the car slides downhill on this mountain.

In about a minute, he reached the mountain foot and when the car reached its stop for about another minute, Arnold steps out of the car. The happy emotions within are all gone from the moment Alfin let out those words to him. Once again, he was too weak to express his emotions and feelings of her and now Alfin's livelihood is now in fate's hand once again. Arnold steps up to the front of the car and then slams his face on the car's hood.

He hated himself for being too weak when it truly matters, and he can't help himself but curse at his own weakness. Now, he is going to lose her, the person that Arnold's truly cared the most. He doesn't care if she has a troubled past, or she has become something atrocious in the future. What she needed right now is love and affection and he won't stop at anything to give her that very gift she deserved.

The ground trembles, Arnold knew that she has tapped into the full potential of her power. If he remembered correctly, her power involves turning mana and raw scrap metals or any material into weapons, vehicles and anything related to warfare. What is she going to do? He doesn't know exactly but this is no time for him to bawl his eyes over himself and what happened anymore. He needs to act now if he wanted any chance of a hopeful tomorrow.

Getting into the front seat of the car and hold the wheel, he may have driven a motorcycle but never once a car. He tried to remember the best of how Alfin did it and follow any of it. It was a difficult task for he is trying to test out everything he could in a given limited time. Soon he managed to find the gas pedal and quickly drives his way out of this place as fast as he could. While the whole surroundings slowly turning into blazing smithereens and moving towards the top of the mountain. He is driving away from it for he remains any longer, even the car he is in would return to its owner.

After getting down the basics, he managed to drive skillfully enough that he is capable of drifting through sharp curves. His destination is everyone else's location and the Overwatcher is rather hard to ignore for that thing is capable of attacking anything in its detection range, not necessarily on its eye's sight alone. A salvo of homing missiles soon finds his position and quickly pursuing him.

"Damn it..." Arnold cursed as he suddenly finds himself doing two things at once.

They said that if you sit on two chairs at once, you will fall between them. Multitasking reduces overall effectiveness but if he just focuses on driving or shooting alone, he won't get anywhere far at all. Betting on the multitasking and hope he can do it effectively, he quickly grabbed for the MG08/15 from the imaginary weaponry rack that transcends beyond the law of physics. And then he fires the machine gun one-handed at the missiles.

Although the erratic firing pattern due to shooting and drive at the same time didn't allow him to use the machine gun to its full effectiveness and thus some missiles managed to get near him, his sharp turning and drifting allow him to avoid them by a hairbreadth. Not that it allows him to escape unscathed though.

Not only facing just missiles, but the laser also destroys the road and creates massive trenches that make him have to resort to many unsavory improvisations in order to get through with the car. He could have abandoned it and just run on foot with virtually no loss, but something inside his mind is telling him that he should try to bring this car at least to anyone who could discern the model of it.

Soon, the car started to show signs of running down, some parts are broken, some are just straight-up gone or too damaged that it would hinder and stuff. The fact that it managed to run despite critical damage just to show how powerful Servant's modifier is.

"How long do I have to keep this up!?" Arnold thought as he started to reach the limit of his mind.

Suddenly, he saw a figure donned in a red shroud and white hair and the woman with white dress and hair as white as snow, there is no mistaking it, it is Shirou Emiya and his mother. The Master is nearby too. Arnold then tried to press the brake pedal and then pedal just pushed into without resistance, Arnold's expression suddenly turned into something else as he realized that the brake has been broken.

"Get out of the way!" Arnold yelled to get the two's attention.

Without fail, those two quickly jumped out of the way but Shirou threw a blade into the back wheel of the car and forcefully stopped it. The moment it came to a complete halt, the whole car fall apart instantly.

"Wow, to think that you can afford car." Gudao said sarcastically.

"Now isn't the time to make jokes, Master Gudao. Hey, red bowman. Can you tell me what model is this car is?" Arnold said as he steps out of the broken car.

Shirou then checks the broken car and he soon finds the emblem. It is a circle with the small V and large W in it. Anyone who is familiar with cars could tell what model.

"Oh, it is a Volkswagen. To think that something like this still exists amidst this ruins" Irisviel said confidently without even checking the car.

Suddenly, Shirou's mind flashes as a revelation went through his mind. He started to piece every single piece of information together and he started to see a much bigger picture. The Volkswagen that Arnold brought has given Shirou the final piece that will shed light on the shadow of Alfin's identity. Shirou turned towards Arnold and then approach him menacingly. He then grabs Arnold by the collar and started to interrogate him.

"Arnold, you are the only person who goes along with Alfin well enough. Tell me about anything that might involve her backstory, her background, anything!" Shirou said as he held Arnold's by his shirt collar.

Filled with sudden dread, he quickly said every single detail regarding Alfin's backstory and her upbringing. What Arnold said only to confirm Shirou's suspicion.

"Uhm, what's wrong?" Arnold asks for the menacing look of Shirou makes him felt that there is something hidden about her.

The tremor started to reach this place, it is not just suddenly but also as powerful as when the London Overwatcher started to emerge. Everyone's gaze suddenly turned onto one single direction. The mountain where the Beast used as his strong point and now it is shaking like a volcano that is about to erupt.

Shirou then let go of Arnold then turned toward the mountain and then he only said in annoyance.

"Second Magic... is a bitch," Shirou said.

A massive tank started to break through the mountain itself, it is so huge that not even any of the buildings around it could measure up to its size. Hell, it is so huge that even from a kilometer away, the thing felt like it was extremely close to them.

Arnold can only look in awe as he witnesses the monstrous size of it. If anything, it is the only thing that could possibly fight against the London Overwatcher. Shirou however only looks as if his suspicion is confirmed. What worries him isn't the massive tank itself but rather its controller.

"Alfin..." Arnold whispers as he focuses his eyes to see her.

She is standing on top of it, a massive main gun whose caliber could destroy a fortress in a single shot, a massive array of cannons and artilleries were built alongside the platform of the tank itself. The monstrous size of it can allow it to outright destroy a whole encampment just by running over it alone. And Alfin, the only emotions he could felt from her right now are just melancholy and sorrow. As if she has accepted that the moment she unleashes it, it will also be her end.

And then it strikes him, the reason that she doesn't want to use her Noble Phantasm until now is not because of the fact that it will kill her or anything but because the moment she uses it, her true identity will be all there for everyone to see. Any person who has basic knowledge in history can instantly tell her who she is. And she is...

Arnold's head suddenly ached, it felt like his head is being butchered by a guillotine repeatedly without stopping. He screamed in agony but nobody is there to help him for they were too occupied by the massive unit of a tank itself. Arnold's mind suddenly drifted away from the consciousness and soon he finally understands who Alfin truly is.

It was such a cruel _fate _that no amount of words can ever describe.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."  
_Revelation  
__Path of No Return  
_****"._."****"._."****"._."****  
**

* * *

"Where... am I?" Arnold said as he stumbles around as his vision begins to clear itself.

When he is finally able to see the surroundings clearly, he found himself in a train station. Despite still being a phantom in this world, he can still feel the temperature. The place is cold, the kind of cold that would cut through your flesh and bone. The outside is raining ceaselessly. When was the last time this place wasn't being gloomy with rain and stuff?

The whole train station is empty, so empty that even he finds it strange. It was as if he is the only person here, and so he decided to look around for anything. Just what exactly does this place connect to Alfin?

And then he noticed that someone is moving towards this place. He then quickly heads out to the checkout stand so that he can take a better examination of the person. On closer look, it is Alfin! And her appearance is a lot more similar to the Servant form that he knew. He got near her just when she is about to write her name on the form. Her name is Alfin, right-

_Adolf Hitler. _That is what written in the form.

The moment he gazed upon those words, not even disbelief would cover it all. If this is some sort of cruel and twisted joke, it is definitely not funny at all. 'Alfin'... the person who placed all of his belief and faith in... is what would become of mad dictator resulting in a massive amount of deaths from mass genocide and massacres. 'Alfin' the person whom he fought together till now, is what would be represented as a sinner who has no deserve of redemption. 'Alfin'...

He wanted to cry, the truth that his partner is the man who resulted in WW2, the slaughter of roughly 60 million casualties. What was he fighting for!?

Suddenly, he remembered back in the past when he swore his oath for 'Alfin'. He remembered it clearly now, all of it was laid out but he didn't even see it.

_The world enraged you for its abandonment of you and in return, you threw it into a nightmare_

_You wanted a paradise, made out of your idea of what you know is beautiful. A world that can't be forgotten._

When he thinks about it the other way, it was obvious who Alfin really is. Now he just laughed at himself for being too gullible.

'Alfin' or more exactly, Adolf Hitler is now walking towards the boarding lane. Arnold just sat there in front of the checkout stand while crying away his turmoil of emotions.

_I'll make a masterpiece that has every color but pain and tears..._

He then stood up and wipes his tears away. He has already sworn that he would give her the love and care she deserved. Why should he care about who she is and letting the unwounded future to dictate how he should treat her? He has already sworn that much, he knew that he can't back down no matter what. He won't let the cycle of hatred continue and somebody would have to break it. Even more, the Alfin that he knew is capable a lot more than this, she isn't a slave to the hand of fate.

The train quickly came aboard and Alfin steps forward into the cabin, Arnold quickly pursues her and tried to enter. However, the moment he got to the door, he no longer can phase through it. The door decided to lock when he truly needed it.

"Let me in! LET ME IN!" Arnold yells as he tried to force open the door itself.

The train then started to move and Arnold determined to force the door open but then he tripped over his own feet and accidentally let go of the handle. Not wanting to sit still anymore, he jumped down into the track and chase the train, the moment he reached the light outside of the tunnel, his vision became overwhelmed by it.

And now, he got everything he knew about 'Alfin' but his decision has never changed. In fact, they are strengthened. For the hardest choice require the strongest of will.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Determined Belief.**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

Arnold has returned back to reality, still having the eyes of disbelief for a moment. He quickly cleared his mind and decided on his course of action. Now that he learned the fact that once Alfin used her NP, her true identity will be all there for everyone to see. He may be able to forgive her but everyone would all just pour all of their disdain and hatred on her and at that point, she will eventually break and lash out on everyone else.

"I have to prove to them that she isn't the Adolf Hitler that they knew. But how?" Arnold thought as he tried to figure out a way for her if they manage to win that is.

"Shirou! Can you tell what that gigantic tank is?" Arnold then quickly asks Shirou if he knew anything. Because after all, it was Shirou who managed to figure out her identity first before Alfin used her NP.

"That thing is the P1500 Ratte, a huge superheavy tank made with the purpose of destruction of strongholds and fortresses. Its main cannon is an 800mm artillery capable of huge damage to the terrain. Various anti-air guns, cannons, artilleries were built into it to ensure it can fend off against any smaller targets. There is one thing though, that thing wasn't supposed to exist at all in the proper history. But she managed to hammer the nail of fallacy into reality itself and bring the thing into this world. Just from that alone, I could tell that she is Adolf Hitler. I should have known from much earlier." Shirou said with a disgusted tone.

Arnold already knew that Alfin is Adolf Hitler, but he wanted to clear away the discord in everyone's heart if he wanted any chance for anyone to work peacefully with her.

Meanwhile, Alfin begins to command all of the armaments on her gigantic tank to open fire on the London Overwatcher. The main cannon fired first and soon everything else followed. The main cannon shot broke through the barrier and allowed everything else to do damage. The battle between them is nothing short but the clash between gods, even if Gudao has witnessed something like this multiple times, he would never once get used to something of such huge scale like this.

The Overwatcher fired a continuous salvo of missiles at 'Alfin' in order to take her out but the cannons and anti-air guns quickly shoot all of them down. 'Alfin' begins to focus her sight on the missile batteries attached side by side to the London Overwatcher. Of course, she will ignore the indecipherable element within at the cost of reduced effectiveness but that if anything that can improve her firepower, she will take it no matter what.

"Steel, Lead, Liquified Oxygen..." Alfin slightly mumbles as she reads out the composition of the Overwatcher's missile batteries.

"Recreating internal structure, creating ammunition feeding systems, direct mana into ammunition conversion..." Alfin thought as she tried

And soon, the missile batteries came out of the blazing portals she created. She learned Projection from Shirou and used it to the best of her own ability. Using its weapons against itself, she quickly fires them towards the Overwatcher which now only to further increasing her firepower.

The Overwatcher started to notice the increased damage received and decided to break the stalemate by firing its laser at her. Alfin noticed that it is beginning to charge and she quickly commands the main cannon to fire.

"Changing firing mode, aim directly at the eye!" Alfin said out loud as the cannon itself begins to point directly at the Overwatcher's eye.

The next moment, both of them fired at the same time, the main cannon of Alfin's tank is no longer of a fortress-busting shell but a highly concentrated beam. Both of them clashed with each other and its clashing light ended up overshine the actual sky, the force of their clash alone tear the whole city in front of the wall apart and all of it soon ended with a flash that blinded everything.

In the aftermath, the whole vicinity of 1 kilometer around them was razed into the ground but both of them are still standing strong. But now its barrier shield has turned back online and will block any incoming ballistics that doesn't have enough strength to overpower it.

Alfin grunted, firing that shot is consuming and its shield got back online but she has to keep this up or else, all of what she has fought for will be for nothing. She quickly retraced the missile batteries and fires them so that she can counter against the Overwatcher's missiles.

A battle of attrition, whoever drained all of their resources will be the loser. The moment you are fighting fair, you are losing. A decisive victory has to come from the brightest idea executed by the most decisive of mind.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Blade of Severing**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

"Is everyone alright!?" Kiritsugu yelled for any signs of survivor after that extremely powerful blast that brought ruins to the area they are in.

Everyone around Kiritsugu managed to pick themselves up from the ruins. Despite being Servants, the gale is too powerful that even Servants got blown away by it.

"Damn, never once would I thought something ridiculously powerful like that could exist but once again, any mythological Servant is. It just that we are the only ones who could answer the call of this world." Larry said as he dusts away the filth on his white coat.

Desmond also pulled himself up from the rubble and he has also noticed the massive tank from the distance, he too felt shaken seeing something out of fiction like that but their existence alone has already blurred the line long ago.

"Dear Lord... Never in the wildest dream of mine would I think of something like that." Desmond said.

"Hold on! Where's Alice" Desmond also soon follows up when he noticed that someone is missing.

"Forget about her! She could wipe the floor of the 4th wall's garrison. If she dies to that thing, I would blow my head apart with this gun already." Kiritsugu said as he quickly directs everyone in the direction he guided.

Kiritsugu also looks back at that gigantic tank. Seeing the clash between it and the Overwatcher, he knew that a battle of attrition isn't a good idea when it comes to against an opponent like that. He thought through every single possible way to take it out early. Like maybe if he is able to sneak into it when the barrier is down, he can bust the thing apart from within.

"But how would I exactly get into within it? Bah... I'll think about it once I got every card on the deck." Kiritsugu thought as he quickly departs for his Master.

Servants that are contracted by their Master can talk with each other telepathically. The reason they use military radio communicators is that telepathic communication can be traced by mages of high enough expertise. Although it is unknown if the Nazi has anything to remotely wiretap their communicators since theirs are disposable in the first place.

"Master! Where are you right now!?" Kiritsugu communicated with his Master telepathically.

"Get to the roof of the building! We from there will send a signal for you" Gudao said to his Servant.

Kiritsugu grunted and then told everyone to jump to the rooftop to receive his Master's signal of his location. Soon, something flew up to the sky and quickly detonated in the sky. Based on where the explosion occurred, he roughly guessed the location of his Master

"Got it! Head towards the west direction and keep running, we are right on the path I designated for you. That is where they are stationed right now!" Kiritsugu said to everyone else.

When they received it, he quickly told his allies who are nearby him to quickly head west from where the bolt was fired from. Everyone then quickly carries their path from the top of the buildings. At least that they will make it there in no time.

"Kiritsugu! The clash! They are about to do it again!" Larry said to him as the P1500 and the Overwatcher about to fire its energy beam at each other again.

"Huh?" Kiritsugu turned around suddenly towards where the clash is happening and once again, the blast is so powerful that gale created from the clash ended up knocking things over again. Everyone was blown away from the sheer power that was unleashed.

"Gah... Damn it... I need to end this whole charrade now." Kiritsugu grunted as the blast knocked him into a half-demolished building.

Slowly pulling himself up again. He found Larry also leaning against the wall as he tried to push his dislocated bone back to where it belong forcefully. Desmond is holding head as he the blast dazed him and landed directly on the head didn't help at all.

Another bolt exploded from outside, they might have also been knocked away from the blast too and they do it again just to update their location for Kiritsugu.

"Get up everyone! We shouldn't be spending any more time here!" Kiritsugu as he pulls everyone up from the ground.

Stray missiles started to land where they are now, the Overwatcher started to receive enough damage that its sensor system started to malfunction and aims randomly at anywhere it sees. Kiritsugu realized the emergence of the situation and decided that he has to carry everyone by force if they wanted to survive.

**_time alter double accel_**

Kiritsugu chanted his spell and he quickly moves with the speed twice of what he used to, grabbing both Desmond and Larry by the shirt and jumped away from the building before it collapsed completely.

Running with the speed unprecedented, despite Desmond and Larry sees how he fight. To feel it is a different matter in itself, they felt too unusually fast that they can't believe it.

Soon, they reached their destination with everyone else there, Pierce, Richard, Kuro and Illya and everyone else. They are the last to meet up.

"Thank god that we are actually able to meet up here without any trouble." Gudao said.

_Rho Aias!_

The rendezvous point got razed down to the ground, Shirou's Rho Aias is the only reason that they still continue to talk at all. The collateral damage between the P1500 and Overwatcher started to become too much for everyone else's safety. It is crystal clear that they will have to end this fight sooner or else.

"So what's the plan?" Gudao asked for he decided to put his more of his faith in his Servant than his judgment right now.

"I intend to destroy the Overwatcher from inside, I have an idea but that will require all of the cards I have to be available for me to use." Kiritsugu said.

Everyone then looks at Kiritsugu and wonders what he means but his family knew clearly what he is implying. Something that only his family is capable of creating and allows him to do what he intended.

"Jii-san, you know what you are trying to do here, right?" Shirou asked as he started to retract the shield away and build a wall of blades on top of them.

Kiritsugu approaches closer and chanted his spell on the blade in order to lock them in time. And then he nodded, Shirou then also have a smile on his face, knowing that his father has moved on from a lone wolf to a man who is willing to trust others.

"So... are you willing to do this?" Shirou asked.

Kiritsugu nodded, he is the man who let his actions speak his words. Shirou knew what he asked is just redundancy and so he decided to proceed with the first step, the knife of his father, the basis that will create the weapon that would severe anything. The knife itself is a scourge of any magus, a single slash of it and you can say goodbye to any effort you made as a magus for that thing will cut and imperfectly rebinds their magic circuits and thus short-circuit them when they try to use their power.

He remembers the day when he first met his father, a man who knew naught of his family for his memory is muddled to the point he can't remember anything but bloodshed. Their first clash against each other happened during Shirou's earliest deployment in Fuyuki's 4th Holy Grail War Singularity where he is tasked with the objective to prevent the war with the least amount of candidate casualties as possible.

When he first clashed against him, it was a nightmare that he has to quickly overcome, soon he used every single detail and memory regarding him of how he fights and utilize them for the victory against him. How? He traced his father knife and lengthened it into a sword. When his father used his NP on Shirou and about to land the final shot, Shirou stabbed himself and pierced into Kiritsugu and rendered him incapacitated until the Singularity's end.

That memory was unforgettable and he would never let it escape his mind until the day he dies which he avoid to the best of his capability. With the knife in his hand, he uses Reinforcement on it and lengthened it into the size of the sword that he used against his father in that faithful encounter. And now it is the most important step, Conceptual Removal. The magecraft that involves the removal of a concept of something while still allows it to remain functional and whole.

He only learns of it when he received the Memorial Essence of the version of him that managed to receive premonition of 5th HGW. Removal of concepts allows a weapon or object to act without said concepts apply, like you can remove air resistance, water resistance, heat transfer,... etc. and thus depending on the situation, certain concept removals can easily be 'game-breaking'.

He removed the concepts of binding from the knife and thus it can only severe, that is what he intended to do so. A building or mechanism has no need for severing and binding, it is only destructive against living beings.

"Kuro, Illya... Can you lend me a hand here?" Shirou asked his sisters who are standing near him.

Both of them nodded, Shirou when he received that response, he decided to trace the most powerful blade he could. The Excalibur, without his Master's Command Seal. However, having three Servants pitching in their mana would allow the tracing of it possible without an additional external power source. The blade soon forms within their hand and soon the Excalibur came into existence as it laid on the hands of the three siblings, basking in the light of glory.

"Okaa-san, please hold on to it and don't let go of Jii-san either." Shirou said as he hands the Excalibur to his mother.

"Understood, you know that not even in death did I even let him go, right?" Irisviel said as she receives the sword from her son.

"And Jii-san, this is the most important factor that will determine your survival after this or not. For the love of anything that is still good in this world, don't ever separate from each other..." Shirou said to his father before handing out the most important part.

Shirou placed his hand on his chest and something started to come out of it, a golden mystical light glows on his chest and what came out is a scabbard made out of gold and blue enamel, one couldn't help but feel at peace when they laid their eyes on this scabbard.

"This is the Avalon, Artoria shows it to me recently so that its image couldn't fade away from my mind. As long as it can feel the presence of the Excalibur nearby, its regeneration capability should be active no matter what." Shirou said confidently while holding the scabbard on his hand.

That's how Shirou managed to regenerate rapidly after getting shot multiple times by the infamous machine gun that it was even called the Buzzsaw by the Beast. He managed to outwit him by having an ace under his sleeves. He knew that he can't bring any Servant that isn't modern but that doesn't mean he can't bring their equipment with him. Shirou's existence is the only gateway between the mythological and the world that prevented any manifestation of Servant that isn't modern.

Kiritsugu takes the scabbard and infused it into him, Irisviel then held onto him from the back and he felt extremely revitalized despite when through all that craps moments ago. Hell, he believes that he might be able to take onto a whole new limit itself. And strange enough, Irisviel despite carrying a sword with her, is still as light as a feather.

"However, I'm not done yet. This blade of severing needs a finishing touch. What I'll be doing is Conceptual Transferment." Shirou said as if he is about to do something heretical.

He traced two weapons or more exactly, a pair of it. This pair of reverse grip weapons fashioned in the style of beast's fangs and claws. Iri felt like she is going through some traumatic events as she laid her eyes on them, and who could blame her for that? These weapons are Tawrich and Zarich, they were ceremonial weapons that were used as worships of real daemons. They were more of a sword breaker than a weapon that is used to rend flesh. They belong to Angra Mainyu, the incarnation of All the World's Evil or more of a representation of it though.

Despite not exactly went through it, she still has the memory of her being corrupted by him and turned into a tool of ensuing disasters. Now, she is simply a wish granter who is fighting alongside her family. But never ever in her current life would she willing to interact with that person unless the situation requires. It's ironic though since the guy is actually chill and just enjoying whatever was brought into his plate. Anything is better than his actual life as a human before becoming an Avenger though.

Shirou then proceeds to transfer the curse from the pair of cursed weapons into the sword-turned knife. The edge started to have a sanguine color of blood, the blade started to have a dark aura proliferating around it. It is no doubt that it has turned into a cursed sword, a weapon made for death and destruction alone.

"Natalia..." Shirou muttered as he examines the cursed sword.

Kiritsugu shuddered... Shirou knew about his past detailed, although he should have expected much considering that is his son but he really didn't talk about that to everyone else so the fact that he knew is what makes it surprising.

"Shirou... Where did you learn of that?" Kiritsugu asked.

"I don't know how to put it but it is somewhere within the Memorial Essence that I received along the line. One of it was you telling your backstory detailly to me and thus I came to know the woman called Natalia, she was your mother and a mentor. She taught you the basics of magus hunting and you two together spent a large fraction of their life in order to hunt down targets and earning huge buck as mercenaries." Shirou said.

Kiritsugu simply nodded, he has no denial about that. All of what Shirou said is true.

"That was until a faithful day when a Dead Apostle with his expertise in insects that allows him to create a vast amount of ghouls by using his zombie bees. Any town that was misfortunate enough to be his target would be turned in a ghost town with the dead roaming inside. Your mother was tasked with that job and killed him during the flight before he could do anything but the experimental subjects broke out of the confinement during the conflict and thus killed all of the passengers with her being the sole survivor of that battle." Shirou said.

Kiritsugu nodded, everyone else is looking at him in uncertainty. Until this far, all of everyone's backstory is tragic and they don't find any reason it would be different to him. He isn't blaming them but he doesn't felt like having his past to uncovered for everyone to see.

"Those ghouls on the plane would have caused a massive and wide-scale apocalypse if landed on any airport and thus you decided to shoot the plane down along with your mother in it. That was why I chose her name as the namesake of this weapon, the severing tie of your own hands by the misfortunate circumstances." Shirou said as if he felt regretful for choosing that name in the first place.

If all of them somehow manage to become a normal family and a normal life, Natalia would be the grandmother and she would no doubt dote on her grandchildren a lot but that life just never seems to become real no matter what.

Kiritsugu turned his gaze to the ongoing clash between the P1500 and Overwatcher, both of them seem to be severely beaten up as he can tell the smokes coming out of both of them. It will become mutual destruction if any of this stretch any longer. Kiritsugu grabbed 'Natalia' the Blade of Severing and prepared to act as soon as 'Alfin' overpower that barrier.

_"Sing Out, O' White Grail" _Irisvield chanted as she activates her Noble Phantasm, she did so so that both Kiritsugu and her can withstand the effect longer. To survive a fatal attack no matter how powerful it is just extremely useful when permadeath is accounted for.

"The moment she did so, I'll have to use the most powerful _time alter _I could possibly do so. This is going to be painful..." Kiritsugu thought as he dreads the idea of applying _time alter _of higher multipliers on himself. Double accel is most reliable, triple if he may find it required but any higher and it will be just detrimental to himself. With Avalon and Song of Grail in effect, he will be able to endure for a long time.

The P1500 fired its main cannon again and might be for the last time because Alfin is exhausted and basically on her last leg. Kiritsugu now knows that he only has one chance and he can't mess it up no matter what. Steeling his determination, he activated the power of his mage crest and go for the riskiest gambit.

The shield is down and Kiritsugu chanted his spell. One that will put him into a wringer that not even being tortured by 4 torture masters of Chaldea can compare.

**_time alter hex accel_**

The world slowed down to the point everything became standstill, but there is one sensation that both Kiritsugu and Iri felt. Pain, so much of it that one would faint instantly. Their bodies at this speed would have ripped itself apart by hundred thousands of times but Avalon and Iri's healing are preventing it from taking effect, although it does nothing about the pain.

Kiritsugu quickly moves toward the Overwatcher as fast as he could. Within this nearly stopped time, both of them are indomitable. Nothing could possibly stop them like this, anything tried to do so would have been diced into dust before they realize it.

Achieving subrelativistic speed, cutting down 2 kilometers within lower than a microsecond. Anything in their path was erased in instant. They were peerless for anything attempt to fight against them like this would have died before they even realized they died. Virtually unstoppable except for the best of the best in terms of speed alone, 50 meters will be cut down in a mere nanosecond.

Running vertically against the London Overwatcher, he lashes his Natalia against the body of the London Overwatcher like a madman while screaming in pure agony of the hex accel effect. Time is almost irrelevant to him that he felt no weight of gravity pulling back, nor anything that could stop him when he moves beyond any of the speed that makes many Servant except the niches.

The curse within Natalia takes effect instantly as it automatically severe anything it came into contact even if the blade itself didn't reach through the whole body of the London Overwatcher. Kiritsugu's slashes if counted would have easily reached millions before he even went through the first 10m. Both Kiritsugu and Irisviel cry in pain as their tears froze the moment they disconnect from their bodies. If they managed to survive this, they will lose their entire sense of external pain as a result of this.

"DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Kiritsugu yelled in a voice that just sounds completely unholy that you would have thought it was a completely demented person saying it but no, it just a person who is completely overtaken by the pain he felt.

When he finally reached the eye of the Overwatcher, he spared no second thought of slashing it into pieces. However, there are two things about it. First, it has a high enough magic resistance to avoid instant severing considering that it is the core after all. Second, though is more of a thing that would apply to anything existed really. Nothing short of gods survives a subrelativistic slash, nothing. Not even the core of the most powerful mechanical killing robot.

Kiritsugu completely consumed by the pain as he diced the core into millions of pieces before the last one-tenth of the nanosecond went out. After ensuring its destruction, he disables the effect of time alter and soon both of them were ripped apart by great force when time speed suddenly changes back to normal. They would have died for real as in ripped apart into a bloody mess if it weren't for Iri's Song of Grail which prevented their death by time dislocation scaled by 16.

The entirety of the London Overwatcher now crumbled into dust, just like how Alice's bell wiped the floor of all of those Azure Soldiers. Alfin who is too exhausted to have any care left. The P1500 has fulfilled its purpose and soon turned into blazing smithereens as it dissipates. Soon, the whole thing is gone with the wind and Alfin started to fall lifelessly through the air.

In her state, she is now vulnerable to death by fall. But nobody is willing to save her because after all, who would save a dictator that resulted in widescale destruction and genocide? They are all focused on Kiritsugu and Irisviel who together dealt the final blow that killed the London Overwatcher. They braced for the couple for safe return and ignore the girl who let them have the chance to finally defeat it.

It was just like how much she expected, the moment her true identity came out, nobody would ever save her. In fact, they would rather dance over her dead body and celebrate that somebody as horrible like her is gone.

Alice is standing from a distance and watch as Alfin falling from the distance. She sighed, everybody has forgotten about her. Even Arnold...

"That's fine... This is the last day I could accompany them anyway..." Alice said.

A man with toothbrush mustache appeared right beside her, just his appearance alone basically scream Adolf Hitler no matter how much one would try to say. He seems to be her guardian based on how he acts right now.

"Alice, your test trail of reobtaining your humanity seems to not going well so far. But the results are nonetheless passing. Since this test is completed, we will then return to the lab so that the final step can be complete." The man said to her.

The idea of being 'Adolf Hitler's test subject doesn't sound so nice but she seems to accept whatever he is saying.

"Understood, I just hope that they can do well without me. I just felt bad for them that I didn't get to say a single goodbye." Alice said.

"Don't worry, if they can destroy the London Overwatcher. They have the full capability to reach us. Now, we shall return." The man said as he presses something in his hand.

Both of them then teleported away, leaving the Chaldean team with one less member and a powerful one at that. Now, it seems like Void Shiki's premonition has become reality and the clash between Alice and her former allies seems to be nothing more than inevitable itself.

Things just seem to be a lot direr now.

* * *

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Swore My Vow That I Heard The Angels Cry**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

* * *

_**Words of God: **__** For this part, play Gate of Steiner - Steins;Gate**_

"Catch them, now!" Shirou said as he wanted everyone to act in order to catch his parents from falling.

Larry giving Shirou the boost that he needed in order to catch his parents and soon he managed to catch them and landed safely on the ground. Desmond quickly checked them up so that he can ascertain their conditions.

"Thank god that they are still okay, they just simply lose their consciousness after they accelerated themselves by 16 times. I'm surprised to see that they are still remaining in one piece." Desmond said after he checked their conditions.

Their gaze then turned towards Alfin, her fall seems to be much slower than how they anticipated but she has already on the last leg and thus anymore injury would be a killing blow to her. They don't know if they should save her or not but the fact that she is a power-hungry dictator has pretty much snuffed away any chance of her being saved.

But Arnold who is with them. He felt his heart is beating rapidly as if it is about to have a heart attack. He wanted to act now but he still haven't cleared up the discord between them and Alfin yet. But the situation has never followed with his plan in the first place and so he got no choice but to act arbitrarily on his own.

Deployed his motorcycle and he quickly gets on it and rides as fast as he could. His action is completely unprecedented to the others that they don't have the chance to stop him. Riding through the vast plain of emptiness, he knew he needs some sorts of ramps just to catch her in midair. He knew that he can't even jump that high without others' help. It just completely nonsense to them as to why he is trying to save her.

Arnold's mind desperately searching for anything that he could use as a ramp until he noticed a rundown building from a distance but it is too far away from her that it isn't reliable to use at all. Hell, it would miss by a huge margin even if he deliberately aims toward her.

But does he have a choice left to say about this matter? He is the only person who is willing to save Alfin despite knowing her true identity. He throttles the motorcycle and drives his way to the ruined building. Moving with the speed that makes F1 car looks like a snail, his mind pushes everything into limits as the only thing in his mind is Alfin alone.

When he finally reaches their vicinity, he made a hard U-turn by drifting on his own motorcycle. It doesn't matter if he just crashes into multiple buildings at once but once his path is aligned again, he will throttle the motorcycle at full speed so that he will have enough momentum in order to have the motorcycle to leap at Alfin's location.

When he finally did so, a trail of dust followed behind him as the motorcycle moves toward Alfin but it was just like how he expected it, he still going to miss by a huge margin. At that moment, his mind decided to choose one final decision. He jumps from the motorcycle in order to reach Alfin.

"Alfin!" Arnold said to her in order to wake her up but she isn't responding.

He held onto her tightly, not wanting to let her go. He started to fall faster as the gravity only serve to accelerate his falling. Alfin is in an extremely fragile state, even the slightest harm could kill her. Fear started to overtake him as he started to get closer to the ground. Within that moment of crisis, he decided to force his mind into a state of clarity even if it is the most difficult thing to do so right now. Within the shadows of fear itself, he found the dying ember of bravery, one that will allow him to tell the truth so that all discord can be erased. Within that last second before death, he chanted.

_Swore my vow that I heard the angels cry_

_So this senseless madness can finally end_

_Pray to God that no more will die_

_So they can finally see the truth for itself_

And at that moment itself, something completely unbelievable happened. Something that not even in his own wildest dream can even imagine, his falling completely halted, he seems to illuminate in some sort of light while he is bridal carrying Alfin. He heard the sounds of something flapping and then he looked at the side only to become surprised at what just happened to him.

He has wings now, a pair of angel wings at that, they not connected to him but rather just metaphysically attached. He slowly descending while carrying her so that she won't die from any more harm. The entire scene is almost as if this is something that came right out of the Church's scriptures. The others find themselves completely dumbfounded at what Arnold just did that they forgot about Alfin's true identity.

Arnold landed on the ground gracefully, not even a single dust got thrown from his landing at all. The wings behind him disappeared the moment he landed and soon he just a normal Servant that everyone knows. But even then, he still not letting go of Alfin because he is still in too great shock and fears that his friends will now personally kill her.

Shirou, Kuro, Kiritsugu, Illya, Irisviel, Pierce, Richard, Larry, Desmond... they are looking at him in contempt. But his mind suddenly drawn to one thing, it isn't the look of disgust that caught his attention, it was someone missing...

"Alice! Oh god! Where is she!?" Arnold said as he realized that fact.

Everyone's attention suddenly drew towards it instead. To lose sight of someone like that is a really huge mistake on their parts. They watch as Arnold desperately calling out for her, as if not wanting to lose her right now.

At this point, hardly anyone could carry a grudge anymore. They see too much things for a single day and the information overload started to take a massive toll on everyone's mind. Out of everyone here, Shirou is the only person who decided to sort out everything information he received right now.

"If Alfin is truly Adolf Hitler then... who are we exactly fighting?" Shirou said as he realized that second possibility.

As if their whole mission has been turned upside down. Everyone is now filled with uncertainty, Alfin's revelation has not only not solving any of the mystery but only increase more of those questions. Who are they exactly fighting? Why is Adolf Hitler fighting alongside them? Why does Arnold obtain something almost as if it came out of mythology? Who is Alice exactly and where does her power come from? What is the meaning of her absence? So many questions with no answer to resolve.

Their future is uncertain like the path ahead of them.

* * *

_**Servants Profile**_

**_Hitler's Incarnation (Wise up!)_**

_**Class: Rider**_

_True Name**: **__Adolf Hitler (Alfin) |Wise up!_

_Parameter:_

_Str: __B__| Agi: B __| End: __B __| Mana: __A+__| Luck: __D__| NP: A++  
__Wise up!_

_Passive Skills:_

_Riding B: Can use most vehicles and animals can be handled with above average skill, even vehicles that did not exist in the time period one was alive in, for they are no exception. However, cannot ride the likes of Phantasmal Species such as Monstrous Beasts._

_Personal Skills:_

_-Animal Communication D: Born from her own love with animals and close affinity with them at a young age and even until now. She could understand what the animals are trying to say to her even if no one else could understand_

_-Soul-burst Forge A+: The ability to turn pre-existing scrap metals or mana into the user's predetermined shape and structures and inner working mechanism. This includes firearms, melee, tools and everything of all sorts consists of metal components. Other components can be created with the user's mana with increased cost__._

_-Blitzkrieg A: A Noble Phantasm that is more or less sublime from sharing the usage of strategy with one particular Servant. However, it is displayed as a skill instead. If its user can land a decisive blow on the enemy, the attack will deal far more damage than it would normally do. There are some conditions that allow it to amplify its power. Strike hard and hook where it is hurt._

_An additional '+' if the enemy is under the effect of a defensive Noble Phantasm_

_Another additional '+' if the enemy is known to be particularly strong in their legends._

_Another '+' if the enemy is known for having a particular weakness that can be exploited._

_If all three are conditions are fulfilled, the skill will boost to EX and any decisive blow will be an instant kill no matter what._

**_Noble Phantasm_**

_**|Crystalization of War Knowledge| **_

_**The Mind of Superior Technology**_

_**Rank E - A+++| Classification: Anti-Unit to Anti-Fortress, Army**_

_**During WW2, German's military hardware was developed at a ridiculously fast pace that they have inadvertently created many new inventions that were meant to boost warfare to its maximum strength. First jet fighter, first rapid-fire personnel machine gun, first long-distance ballistic rockets, first assault rifles, and many more... **_

_**This Noble Phantasm allows Alfin to recreate them as long as she has the mana required to recreate them. Rope ladders, knifes, radio sets are classified as E-rank, pistol-caliber weaponry are ranked as D-rank, rifle-caliber weaponry as C-rank, anti-armor guns as B-rank and heavy autocannons, field artilleries, armors as A-rank. Some classified weapons and experimental among Alfin's arsenal are classified as greater than A itself and the P1500 Ratte are at the top of A+++ for the most expensive and powerful at the same time.**_

**"._."****"._."****"._."**

_**Maiden of Void**_

_**Class:?**_

_True Name:__ "Alice?"_

_Parameter:_

_Str: Unk__| Agi: Unk __| End: Unk__| Mana: __EX__| Luck: EX__| NP: EX_

_Passive Skills:_

_Magic Resistance EX: There is something inside her that makes her Magic Resistance went off the chart, literally. She can't be harmed by any sorts of magecraft no matter how old it is or what type it is. Might actually negate even Divine's curses._

_Personal Skills:_

_Unclouded Eyes EX: The ability to ignore every notion that is deemed unnecessary to her perception, this includes illusions, mental hindrances, darkness,... She basically laid out everything for all to see, even the barest truth of this world. _

**_Noble Phantasm_**

**_|Void Field|_**

**_Boundary of Nothingness_**

**_Rank EX| Classification: Absolute Defense_**

**_A Noble Phantasm that involves the act of separating the user and the targets from their plane of existence by isolating them into a higher dimension. It can be used repeatedly without repercussion, apparently. This form of protection can protect its user and chosen target from attacks up to fifth-dimension._**

**_|Bell of Oblivion|_**

**_The Toll of Nothingness_**

**_Rank EX| Classification: Anti-Army_**

**_A bell that is so small that it fits Alice's palm perfectly. It has a jet black color and having ornate carvings on it. The moment it rings, anyone but its user who are misfortunate enough to hear it will crumble into dust immediately, no matter how high their magic resistance is._**


	15. Shadow of the Past

**Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Chapter 15: Shadow of the Past**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

After a long while and things managed to calm down. Everyone soon reconciles with each other and all of what just happened.

"So... this is everything we managed to retcon about her..." Shirou said.

From all of the facts and the stuff that they managed to pick up from her behaviors, her sweet-tooth, Volkswagen, the love for arts, the majority of her weapons being German in origin, the vendetta hatred against cigarettes,... Everyone can say without a shadow of doubts that Alfin is indeed Hitler. They knew well that a Servant's appearance can't equate to their identity immediately but the revelation of her identity is just straight up asspull.

"I'm very sorry but I guess that all of you won't like me any more right? All of our interactions from this point onwards are just teeth-clenching teamwork and you will probably dispose of me after you reached your objective right?" Alfin said as she tried to convey through the mess of her emotions.

The rest of the Chaldeans looked at each other and then they look at their Master, waiting for his judgment.

"Sigh... You know... Us Chaldeans aren't exactly as exemplary when it comes to good morals or whatnot. We have no less amount of Servants of bad known history records and ones that would be criminalistics. Like Jean d' Arc Alter, Ereshkigal, Okada Izo, Carmilla, Edmond Dantes, Jack the Ripper, Ibaraki, Abigail William, whatnot... And even I aren't exactly without blood on my hands either. Before I have reached this place, I committed 6 genocides on multiple timelines, all by my decisions so that we can find a way for our Proper timeline to survive.

Alfin doesn't know how to respond to that, never would she face another person who also committed genocides like her.

"Our Master isn't a type to bear a grudge either, he is compassionate and understanding. That's why so many Servants, even ones that are known to be evil in history always follow him entirely out of respect. That's just our Master, you know." Shirou said.

"As long as you are fighting for humanity's survival and future, we won't judge your past or backstory, nor your atrocity committed although that would warrant some supervision of others. But nonetheless, you are welcomed no matter what." Gudao says the rest of his words.

For the first time, Alfin managed to genuinely smile. For there is a place where she is accepted, nobody would care about the crime she committed. That smile of her is contagious for anyone who sees it can't help but to smile. A place where they are accepted and redo what they failed at their previous life is no doubt a paradise beyond what they could think.

"It is a place where you can finally resolve all of those regrets when we carried when died. Trust me, every hero has some form of regret and nobody is exempted from it, even normal people. It is just that we are fortunate enough to immortalize ourselves into the passage of history so that we can persist in some forms. Those who died without contributing anything significant are only to be sent to a place where everything includes their regrets is too lost in oblivion." Kiritsugu said as he addresses his opinion.

"And trust me, keeping a grudge only serves to exhaust oneself even further. If I kept a grudge towards even one-fourth of the Servants I have, I would be dead long ago." Gudao said.

Alfin then wipes her tears away. For the first time, she felt hope... To see the light once again when she was forever plagued by her own darkness of the past. Those sins she committed can't be erased but never would she ever beg for forgiveness nor forgetting them. What she did can't be changed anymore but that doesn't mean she will allow history to repeat itself. She has to let go of her past but also never forgetting them, that is the necessary step in order to better herself.

"Let me just change myself into something more comfortable, something that I can allow myself to reach my full potential without having much inner struggles," Alfin said as she moves toward the back of the closest building.

"You know, I would shit myself a fucking house if she turned into actual Hitler". Larry said jokingly although that possibility is not too farfetched.

A minute later, she came out of the building. Her outfit this time completely changed, of course, no actual Hitler. She is still a little girl with blond curly hair. The difference here is that her hair is longer and reached her waist. She is wearing a short dark orange dress with white frills inside of it. On her head is a black military captain hat with some feathers attached to the side.

She looks a lot more majestic than a lot of people willing to admits and looks a lot proper like a princess than before. It is quite a shame that they got so used to her wearing WW2 soldier's attire since the beginning of their meeting and only recently right now, a dress.

Arnold's heart beating rapidly as he tried to control his feelings from going haywire at just her sights alone. Alfin then looked at Arnold and he then suddenly turned away in shyness while his face is red like a beetroot. Alfin can't help but smile then turn away from him.

"You sure are a weird one for having feelings for a genocidal maniac right there? Are you sure that you aren't some sort of masochistic person?" Larry said jokingly.

Arnold looks hesitantly at Larry as if he wanted to deny doing so but it is already too apparent that any of his actions would only be used against him.

"Boi, I'm just joking, okay? But either way, I am not understanding how your mind works at all and what you did was surely unorthodox. But nonetheless, all well is end well. I'm just sort of glad that you did it on your own." Larry adds more.

And so they continue their hike towards the fourth wall and soon they will enter the fourth ring. There is only more challenge ahead and they will have to strengthen their wills if they wanted any hope of surviving. Roughly 15 minutes later, they reached the fourth wall.

"Alfin, you have the honor..." Arnold said to her.

Alfin nodded, no longer letting her own identity to hold her back. She used the full power of her Soulburst Forge and created a vast amount of blazing portals at once. In each of these portals is high-caliber artillery. Each shot is capable of punching a huge hole through a large mountain. And along one of them is the 800mm cannon that was used in P1500 Ratte. It doesn't take a genius to tell how powerful it is.

Alfin took out her golden pistol in which Arnold examined it, he realized that it has ornate carving and the words "AH" in it.

"Should have known earlier..." Arnold thought as he put two and two together, it surprised him that things could have been revealed way earlier if she has been any careless.

"Fire!" Alfin said as the whole array of artilleries open fire on the wall itself.

A massive explosion soon occurred, as the shockwaves soared through the land itself. When the dust finally died down, an entrance to the next ring is there for everyone to go. However, before they actually enter it, they wanted to shake one thing away from their minds. Alice's whereabouts. That girl is a divine in mortal's flesh. With her disappeared to nowhere, she has become an arbitrary factor that whether she would bring good or not is an answer that only God seems to know.

"You know, she gives me the creep. No Servant should be that powerful and what she just displayed can't be even passing off as a Servant anymore..." Desmond said.

Pretty much everyone agrees on that. Although she really is a reliable ally, they really shouldn't have relied too much on her despite the fact that they would have been in far deeper shit without her.

"All we can do is really... just face it head-on. The next time we meet her... It will probably as an enemy. I just can't fathom the power needed to even have a snowball chance in hell against her." Arnold said.

Everybody thought but all they can do is move forward. There is no use waiting around and do nothing, all he can do is to move towards the next frontier.

And so they walked through the gap on the wall, what greets them is truly no words to describe.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Fourth Ring - Cloudburst**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

The rain fell heavily, it is ceaseless and nonstop. Like standing beneath a waterfall for eternity. The Chaldeans have now made it to the next frontier, a land completely subjugated by the rain. It is irritating, the rain felt like needles constantly puncturing you slightly and you have thousands of them falling on you directly. Servants can shrug off the rain like nothing but to their Masters, it is very tedious for their performance and focus can be hampered.

"Let us find shelter, assuming there's anything that can withstand this rain anyway," Kiritsugu said as he went ahead first.

"The moment we managed to find a shelter, I'll ask Da Vinci to built something a barrier so that I can block the rain. If I am going to fight under it extensively, might as well deal with it." Gudao said.

Every of Gudao's Servant looks at him warily which Gudao quickly follows it up in order to broke out of everybody's stare.

"Why do all of you look at me like this? This Mystic Code also created a thin barrier that can be used to protect its user against the weather. Of course that it won't be much use against a Servant but that's why I have all of you, right?" Gudao said to his Servants.

"Even if you have that Mystic Code on, it would be counterintuitive if we walk underneath this any longer. A shelter is required..." Shirou said.

Gudao sighed, just is there anything that could withstand this rain? That might as well be finding a specific needle in a needlestack.

And once again disproven by the sheer chance alone, they managed to find decent shelter. A mansion situated on a hill that overlooks the abandoned city below, nearby it is a park which is weirdly overgrown despite being covered by rain for all of the time. The squad made its decision to stay here since it allows a huge vantage outlook and there are even sufficient accommodations.

"Man... It has been a while since the last time I actually get a place to properly rest." Pierce said as he tried to find a room for himself.

"Yeah, Servants can fight a whole day without exhaust but us Masters are the ones that have to take on the most burden. Our Strength is as different as heaven and earth and thus I too would like to take a very long nap." Gudao said as he follows Pierce.

The Servants watch as their Master search for the resting room. Soon, they have gone from their sight and they are now allowed to do anything they wanted.

"So... what do we do now?" Illya asked.

"What else? Until our Masters wake up, we are sitting duck. Might as well do something useful or have a good time yourself." Kiritsugu said.

And so everybody split up, doing what they wanted to do. Each has their own plans, this is, after all, a good day to clear up all of those pent up stress.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**The Flander Poppy**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

Arnold walks upstairs to the highest floor, and he enters the balcony that overlooks the city, the rain fell on him but it doesn't make him feel annoyed at all. The whole scene before him felt serene like a requiem of silence.

He embraces it, the rain reminds him of the wartime that he was thrown into. A land that was forsaken to never see the light of the day, just like how this place is.

The sky is full of dark clouds, the chilling winds permeate the air, each raindrop as cold as permafrost. Arnold only looks out toward the ruined city where there is nothing but the sounds of raindrops splatter on the ground.

Arnold decided that this is a good place to take a good look at what he managed to achieve so far, his backgrounds and the arsenal he has. Shifting his consciousness into that forgotten memory, the armory that is lost in time.

Appeared once more in it, he made a checklist of all the things he has. The full modified Artillery Luger hanging on the wall, the magnum revolver that is placed on the table and...

A poppy flower? Why is something like that is placed here out of all things? He remembered clearly that all of what happened in that memory, the landscape is ravaged and muddy. The sun never reached the forsaken world, just what exact hope is there anything left to foster in that world filled with endless bloodshed?

Arnold sighed, the thing at least is a beauty in a world filled with blight and despair. He picked it up and admired its beauty, he wonders where it came from and how it appeared on the journal desk. After he decided to take it along with him back to the real world and hope somebody might have some clue about it.

Shifting his consciousness back to reality while on his hand is a poppy flower. He enters back to the room and stares at it. Just what does it mean?

"Hey, buddy... What are you doing?" Desmond came into his room and then asks him.

"Oh... it just... do you know the flower language of poppy?" Arnold asks before giving him the poppy flower.

Desmond sits down on the bed and checks the poppy that Arnold gave. In a few seconds, Desmond chuckled before giving the poppy back to Arnold.

"Dude... This isn't about any symbolic meanings or anything. This poppy here is about the memorial of the veterans..." Desmond said.

"War is war and hell is hell, war isn't hell. Because in war, there are no innocents in it. War is a cesspool of death where us young people are thrown into it for the profit of those who hate each other when we not even sure why we are fighting. You are a soldier, so you obviously understand it very well, right?" Desmond said.

Arnold simply nodded, the latest memory of his has already given him the vision of the horror of war itself. And thus he knew full well of what Desmond means. The guy fights a war without a weapon and serves his purpose to save as much life as he could without harming anybody else. If that guy wasn't given the title of the saint. The world doesn't deserve him.

"But what does it have to do with poppy?" Arnold asks.

"Let me tell you though. After the Great War ended or WW1. The vegetation was decimated to the point that hardly anything could grow in the ravaged landscape. In a war that took a massive toll on human lives and changed virtually nothing, something managed to grow from the devastated landscape of the battlefield. It takes the most tenacious of all plant species to ever grow on it, the poppy. Due to its blood-red resemblance, it was thus considered the symbol of remembrance." Desmond said.

Arnold listens carefully to what Desmond has to say. Something about this would be without a doubt important to him. Something at the end of WW1, is he dead or alive? Did he struck gold or left forgotten? There has to be something especially important about poppy that it managed to exist in his armory.

"When the soldiers raze the land, tearing up all of the trees and plants and wreaking havoc the soils beneath. But after the battle took place and no longer have anyone fight on it anymore, these bright red flowers peek up across the battle-scarred land and soon what came to know as Flander Field came about. The poppy by technicality is a weed and thus it can be explained for some of its tenacious nature."

Tenacious, something reborn from the ashes of the past. From the destruction into rebirth.

"It was through the poem "In the Flander Field" in which its writer channeled the voice of the fallen and buried under the ground where the poppies grow. Struck by the sight of bright red blooms on broken ground, the poem eventually came out this way and soon its fame reached far and wide and became widespread to the point that it was used in many memorial ceremonials. Too bad that the guy died at the end of WW1 though." Desmond said.

When he heard it, it is not just simply remembrance but also sacrifices. The blood that shed became the flowers of remembrance so that no one would forget the sacrifices required to so that this madness can come to its conclusion.

He then realized the fact that Alfin intentionally used her NP despite the fact that it would unveil her true identity. Even then, she still used it no matter what despite she would be ridiculed by her own allies for being an incarnation of Hitler. It was only for her NP that she managed to have something powerful enough to overpower the barrier and left the Overwatcher exposed and thus Kiritsugu's final attack can take it down. If she didn't do so, nobody would have made it this far. Sacrifice... And she did so valiantly regardless of what would happen to her sooner or later.

"Desmond... Do you know why this poppy managed to manifest in my inner world?" Arnold asked.

"Dude... If I were you, I would know that it wasn't just her either..." Desmond said with a smile on his face.

"Huh?" Arnold said in surprise.

"At that time when Alfin pushed herself to her limit and descend to her death? None of us really have the idea of saving her since we were stuck with perceived notions that Alfin is evil because she is Hitler and thus we just up and forget about who Alfin is prior to the revelation. But only you are willing to save her. Because after all, you chose to remember what she did, and her own decision that wasn't under any perceived by anything that you self-presumed. You are the only person who truly understands her and after all, it is only your own commitment that she managed to survive to this point." Desmond said after he gives his analysis

Arnold thought for a while and then Desmond exits the room. Before he did so, the medic said good day to Arnold before leaving.

"You're right... It is only my remembrance of her that is the proof of her survival." Arnold thought while turning his eyes on the poppy on his hand.

His hand is twitching around the poppy, he doesn't know if he is just grasping at nothing and overcomplicating stuff. What if there is really no special meaning and he just tried to find a nonexistent meaning in something so mundane?

Even so, the poppy in his hand is a treasure far more valuable than anything in this hopeless and bleak world.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Vall-Halla**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

"Hey, son! Guess what I found?" Kiritsugu said as he found a stash of alcohols shelved on the wall, the contents inside are unharmed as far as he concerned.

"Jii-san... I don't think it is a good idea to drink something that was left abandoned from like 5 years ago. I know that we are Servants but the taste might put you off. At least let me check its content for itself." Shirou said in order to persuade his father from doing something he might regret.

Kiritsugu reluctantly giving the bottle to his son. Shirou used his Hawkeyes on it and check if there are any anomalies in it.

"The bottle was sealed to the point that it is airtight. This bottle of wine isn't even opened at all and so he can confirm that he can drink it without any problem with taste." Shirou thought as he analyzes it.

"So... can I drink it?" Kiritsugu asked.

"Yeah, it's fine. You can drink it all you want." Shirou said as he gives the bottle to his father.

Kiritsugu snatches the bottle out of Shirou's hand and quickly grabbed his Swiss Army Knife in his pouch and quickly opened it. He then sniffs its fragrance and aroma before commenting on it.

"Damn, feel like witnessing the star and nebula itself. Must have been some special type of wine to have this kind of effect." Kiritsugu commented on it.

Kiritsugu then turned around to see if there is anything wine glass so that he can pour this thing in. Shirou noticed what Kiritsugu is trying to do and thus he checked alongside him. In just a bit later, he opened a shelf and find an array of glasses of all kinds. Wine glasses, beer mugs, martini glasses, shots, hightail glasses, so much more... that is collecting dust.

"Damn... This place is oddly well prepared, there are ingredients although spoiled and glasswares. Must have been a self-service bar." Shirou said as he checks through the glassware.

And now that they realized it, there are barstools and stuff that make an essential part of a bar but they decided to notice the alcohols first.

"Guess I will clean the glassware first, you wait for a bit, Jii-san". Shirou said as he takes some glasses with him to the outside.

Kiritsugu then plugs the wine bottle and then situates himself on a barstool while waiting for some clean glasses. While he is waiting, he takes a look at the cursed sword that his son has given him.

"Damn... Just when did I got so comfortable around the fact that I have a family?" Kiritsugu said as he smiles for one of those really rare times.

He remembers back then when he first summoned to Chaldea. He was some really anti-social and a lone wolf kind of person, he ignores the help and caring of the others adamantly during those first hours. Well... that was until he received the Memorial Essence that completely changed who he is. Now, having a reason to fight for is probably allows him to attain much greater performance over begrudgingly accept any orders and dirty jobs that he thought no one ever would care about who he is and bats an eye about it.

Over the course of his stay in Chaldea, there were no less amount of happy moments and tragedies that shook his spirit like a turbulance. The acceptance of the dilemma between the life of other Lostbelts and then his world, he knew that his world is far more important because there are others who are waiting for his return. But he knew that the hardship and the culmination of other lives there are also real but he got no choice to destroy for the sake of his world.

The Alien Gods really know how to torture people with ideals like him, the sacrifice of others for one singular world. That is what he truly hated during the time as Counter Guardian, who knows the number of lives lost that resulted from his action back then? For greater good humanity? At least in Chaldea, he has a clearer goal right now...

He looked at the blade again, the name "Natalia" echoes through his mind. He can't help but wonder, what would his mother think of him right now?

"Mom... If you are watching over me in some form of ways although I know that you not exactly having the means to travel between worlds. But if you are watching me right now... I wonder if you are proud of what I have managed to reach this far. You used to say that no dream is too ridiculous to attain although I don't know if you were joking back then or not. But nonetheless, I am with Chaldea right now. An organization that fought for humanity's future and their safety, I am happy that I managed to reach for this place and not suffering any longer for my own dream and ideal. I also have a lovely wife and five children and they are also partaking in the duty to protect humanity too." Kiritsugu whispered for himself.

"Shirou... Kuro... Illya... Miyu... Sitonai... They may not exactly the best in Chaldea's line up but they are doing the best they could in their capabilities and expertise. It is the heart that matters..." Kiritsugu continues to say for only himself to hear.

"Jii-san? Are you talking to yourself?" Shirou said as he enters the place back with cleaned-up glasses.

"Oh. It just... there is nothing wrong here." Kiritsugu said in surprise to notice Shirou came back a bit earlier than how he expected.

Shirou already knew what his father is talking about here, he knew just how much he loved his family that he will prevent any possibility that might potentially split the family apart again.

"You know... Since we are in a bar right now, it would be a waste to just drinking stuff straight like that. We have all sorts of alcohol there and we can ask for stuff from Shadow Border in order to make some cocktails. We have gin, vodka, tequila, rum, champagne, whiskey... etc. We have a huge plethora of possible combinations we can work with. Just imagine what we can possibly make." Shirou said as he quickly walks toward upstairs to his Master's room.

Kiritsugu sighed, his son has always had a knack for culinary and cooking. Although it was partly because of his cooking always turn into a disaster that Shirou quickly have to take it up to make him stop back when both of them were alive as a normal person. He thought it was hilarious as it was when he was alive but needless to say though, it really sucked for his son.

"Father! What are you doing here?" Illya enters the bar and said to her father.

The little magical girl then jumps at him and Kiritsugu embraced her. That little bundle of joy that he swore to never let go is once again near him.

"Illya, I just waiting here so that your brother can make some cocktails with me," Kiritsugu said.

"Oh, you mean like those bartending mixing game on the fully downloaded internet in the library? To be fair though, there is too much combination to work around and I can't keep hogging the computer for myself so I really never know." Illya said.

Kiritsugu simply nodded, while the computers in the library are still working and people can check on it, they are pitifully slow compare to the supercomputer used as interfaces and controls of Shadow Border. Those things are lightning bolts compared to a snail and thus they were used more for information search than the library's computers.

"Hey, you're here too, Illya?" Shirou said as he comes downstairs wearing a gray shirt, black khaki pants, and a white apron. In his hand is the communicator that is connected to the Shadow Border.

"Wow! You look so cool, Onii-chan!" Illya said to her brother.

"Well, gotta make myself looks like a proper barista, right? I am going to make a supply rayshift point right at this bar so that we can have more stuff to work around with." Shirou said to his father and sister.

"Yes! I am going to taste my Onii-chan's cocktails made by himself!" Illya said cheerfully.

"Illya, the only cocktails I would make for you is the non-alcoholic ones. I ain't risking like the last time." Shirou said to her as he gets to the other side of the bar table and grabbed a 'mana chalk' on his pouch before drawing something on the table.

"Aww... come on... What uses is cocktail without the alcohol?" Illya said to her brother.

"The last time I did so in the cafeteria when we celebrate Sitonai's birthday and you went down on multiple alcoholic cocktails at once. You eventually overplayed your liquor tolerance and let your own drunken shenanigans to dictate what you should do. Not only that but you decided to mistook liquor breaker pills with aphrodisiac and chuck down a mouthful of them at once. Let me tell you though, things turned into a complete mess and devolve into chaos as you tried to do the 'snu snu, wink wink, nudge nudge' with me, your own brother! Do you know how close I was to receive the ridiculed ire of everyone?!" Shirou said as he rants about his sister.

Kiritsgu sits as both the siblings argued with each other. He remembered that day when he was there to see Sitonai's birthday party but he was tired on that particular day and decided to stay until Sitonai blows out the candles on her birthday cake and then hits the bed soon afterward. When the following day comes, nobody wanted to say anything about that particular night, no one which makes him wondered what exactly went down that night. Now that he received the answer, he doesn't know how to respond about it but to remain tight-lipped.

"Sigh... Anyway... I get really thirsty after arguing with you and anything can quelch this thirst is fine by me. If you have done so, I'll forgive anything that transpired between us until now." Illya said as she gasps for breath after arguing non-stop.

"Yeah, shouldn't have waste time just to argue about stuff we can't change any more. Okay then, I shall make one for you." Shirou said after he gasps for breath like her.

Shirou then gives the sigil that he drew on the table some mana and suddenly all of the bar ingredients appeared right in front of him. Ice, sugar, lime,... all of them are freshly laid out in front of him.

"Boy... this will take a while." Shirou said as he tries to find the correct stuff to make the right cocktail.

He grabs those bottles of cream, specifically the green and white chocolate one and placed it separately so that he doesn't grab the others by mistake. Both of them are written 'green creme de menthe' and 'white creme de cacao'. He fills the cocktail shaker with ice and then pouring the required ingredient including the light cream into it. He then proceeds to reinforce the shaker and then shakes the thing repeatedly so fast within a split second and the thing has already chilled the moment he is done with it.

After that, Shirou grabbed a martini glass then he strains the content into the glasses and then he garnishes a sprig of mint into it.

"Woah! This is something I never saw before, you didn't even use any alcohol at all! This green creamy texture is so satisfying to look at." Illya said to her brother cheerfully once again.

"This is the Grasshopper cocktail, the guilty pleasure of any people who loves a nostalgic childhood treat. Why don't you try it?" Shirou said to his sister.

She takes a sip out of it and then the nostalgic feeling kicks in. It really does taste like chocolate mint candy converted into a liquid form and it felt like some sort of pleasure that can only be found when you eating some treats secretly from your parents. It's sinfully sweet, creamy and delicious. Much like the guilty pleasure of having a bowl of ice cream or a rich dessert on a hot summer day.

"I... This is so great!" Illya said cheerfully.

"You sure have a ton of experience when it comes to anything that involves food, and your skills are surely of an experience one. Hell, you are looking like one too" Kiritsugu said.

"Thanks, Jii-san. What cocktail do you want?" Shirou said.

"You know, surprise me?" Kiritsugu said to his son.

Shirou smiled, he knew that while his father may try to keep on his face a tough exterior. Inside, he has a love for sweet that he isn't willing to admit to anyone but his family members. He remembered back during Valentine's day, his mother baked a chocolate cake that she tried the damn hardest to give to his father. Not wanting the others to know what a bleeding-heart he is, he deliberately run away and stay out from his mother as long as he could. Too bad that the rest of the family caught up and cornered him back to his room.

Although he isn't going to say it, he loved that cake to every bite of it. And now, Shirou will surprise him with what he will come up with.

Grabbing that same bottle of white creme de cacao, the unopened bottle of brandy on the shelves, another bottle of gin and what he guessed is lemonade tea. The only reason he can trust it fully because he supervised the whole process it was made.

He then grabbed a pony glass and then poured the creme de choco bottle into the glass, he then pours some gin and brandy into it and then whips it off with some heavy cream. After that, he started to do the finishing touch with a cherry on a toothpick and placed on top of it. Not even using any cocktail shaker.

"Hey, catch!" Shirou said as he pushes the glass of cocktail over to his father.

Kiritsugu catches the glass of cocktail and checks it at his first glance, he then has a small sip before commenting on the taste.

"Don't know if you intentionally pick on the fact that I like sweet or not, but this thing has a really sweet and uniquely piney and flowery taste, the heavy cream does make it have a rich and thick flavor to it. What is this cocktail's name may I ask?" Kiritsugu asked after tasting it

"Wanna know?" Shirou said to his father.

Kiritsugu nodded. He wanted to know what is the name of this cocktail that he is given right now since he is interested.

"Angel's Kiss, just something simple I managed to cobble up from what I know and your preference". Shirou said.

Kiritsugu became speechless for a little while before he chuckles as he pieces them together.

"Haha... You literally use a drink with a name that makes me remember of your mother. And you know, she would also pull the same thing if she knew about something like this." Kiritsugu laughed as he carefully placed the glass back.

Both the father and the son have a good laugh with each other while Kiritsugu enjoys the drink himself. That's until another guest has come to this place, Larry.

"Hey, welcome to this bar." Shirou said as he welcomes his new guest.

Larry simply sits on the barstool with a slightly annoyed expression on his face. It felt like the guy is in a perpetual state of constantly pissed off without dying down. The guy is good at heart but something about him just straight up tells that he is unsatisfied with everything in his life.

"Give me something kicks harder than a mule. Something really hard..." Larry said to Shirou.

Because the further they are in enemy territory, the higher the mana density. This place is left abandoned for 5 years in fourth ring and thus the mana here might have seeped into everything in this place. The only reason that stuff can work on Servants is because of the mana within, the higher the mana, the higher the potency it can affect Servant. A cocktail made entirely out of stuff here would knock a Servant out cold.

But still, Shirou decided to oblige anyway.

"Okay then, a cocktail that kicks harder than Mordred on her mother's face." Shirou tried to say it with a straight face but failed, especially after personally witnessing his wife getting kicked right on her face because of his "daughter"'s impulse.

"Uh? Her? Her mother?" Larry asked confusedly because even if he knows of Arthurian Mythology, he didn't know King Arthur is a woman nor even his supposed son is actually a daughter.

"It's a long story but I'll get on with your drink right now," Shirou said before he focuses himself back on.

Grabbing a bottle of gin, a whole lemon, a bottle of simple syrup and the bottle of champagne, or more specifically, the brut version. You either love it or hate it, no exception, no middle ground.

Shirou then pours gin into the cocktail shaker then shaking it vigorously. The speed he did so is ridiculous that even Illya can tell the change in the airflow of this place.

"Onii-chan, if you keep shaking like that, you might as well replace the electric fan, although assuming we even installed one at all." Illya said with a 'WTF' expression on her face.

When he has done doing so, he pours the shaken gin into the hightail glass, and then follows up with simple syrup, squishing a whole lemon in it and filled the rest with champagne then grounded ice. Shirou then decided to add a finishing touch by putting a slice of lemon on the edge of the glass. After that, he pushes the glass across the table to Larry.

"Here you go, that drink is when you felt like strapping yourself to an artillery's muzzle and then fire that thing while you're at it." Shirou said to Larry.

Larry catches it with his left arm and then he checked its content. After doing so, he chugged the whole thing down in one shot. Kiritsugu baffled at what Larry just did as if he has no sense of self-perseverance. Considering what he just did back at the battle against Severloh, that might have been something to be expected no matter what given time.

Larry stares at the empty glass for a while before uttering a single word.

"You know, I have drunk something kicked harder than this, but this thing is still good no matter what so I give it a passing grade." Larry said before he stood up and proceeds to walk out of the bar.

At least, that is what he tried to do...

Larry's movement started to become more sluggish and then he just came to a complete stop. The others started to notice that something is wrong and seems to only go even worse.

"Onii-chan, what did you do with that cocktail?" Illya asked for she felt something is going to go wrong.

"I don't know but I think I probably shouldn't have reinforced the gin. Reinforcement tends to also increase its target's effectiveness and potency after all." Shirou said before something happened.

Larry then falls face flat into the ground and no response was detected afterward.

"Onii-chan, I think you just killed him." Illya said with a 'WTF' expression.

Before Shirou tried to approach him and check he is okay, Larry suddenly picked himself up and then suddenly moves toward the center of the room they are in.

"Shirou, what is he trying to do?" Kiritsugu asked his son.

"Beat me..." Shirou said as he shrugged.

Larry then started tapping his foot to the ground while also clapping his hands at the same time. They seem to follow a rhythm of sorts, one that felt distant yet familiar. Shirou looked directly into Larry's eye and noticed that he is completely drunken out of his mind. His own action from this point onward might just as well be the impulse of his mind. And then Larry suddenly said.

_Ievan Polkka_

And at that moment, Shirou's mind just went with one single word: "Mother of-". Back when Chaldea was at its temporary peace, he fucking heard that song for nearly every day in his life when he worked in Chaldea's cafeteria. A certain group of Servants played that song literally any given moment and while it is not bad or anything. The sheer times he heard it imprinted straight into his mind even if he doesn't want to hear it.

_Nuapurista kuulu se polokan tahti_

_Jalakani pohjii kutkutti_  
_Ievan äiti se tyttöösä vahti_  
_Vaan kyllähän Ieva sen jutkutti,_  
_Sillä ei meitä silloin kiellot haittaa_  
_Kun myö tanssimme laiasta laitaan_  
_Salivili hipput tupput täppyt_  
_Äppyt tipput hilijalleen..._

What Larry is singing sounds like complete gibberish in itself. The Finnish language completely filled with so many words with different phonetics that it is plain impossible to tell what it actually means unless Finnish is their mother tongue. To the others' ears, Finnish sounds like what a washing machine would make if you threw a brick into it while it is still functioning.

Even then, Kiritsugu, Illya and Shirou can't hold their laughter back when they watch Larry dancing like a maniac while singing this gibberish. The whole sight can only be described as completely hysterical.

"I... I can't... " Illya tried to hold her laughter back but she just completely failed the moment she attempted to do so.

And time passed as this whole hysterical scene still going on, but there is no doubt that this is the happiest they ever been in a while.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Slumbering Wrath**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

_**Words of God: **__**For this part, you know the Melancholic Voice song that you got from chapter 10? Play it for this part.**_

Alfin slightly brushes her pencil lightly at the paper she created, how ironic that canvases, painting tools, papers, pencils are considered a weapon in her NP. Even if it isn't a weapon in itself, she finds it useful that she can satisfy her own artistic desire by herself without carrying it everywhere. One might say that the pen is mightier than the sword.

Sitting on the balcony that overlooks the whole city blocks right in front of her, the rain doesn't even bother her at all. Comparing it to the swirling feelings inside her, it is so insignificant that she can't even remotely care.

"Ugh..." Alfin grunted as she held her chest.

Just because she accepts who she is doesn't mean the overbearing guilt wouldn't go away, she has to burden her own sins even through eternity as long as she persists in some form. It is only when she received back her whole full memory that she has full access to her power but it might have also unlocked something that should have been sealed.

"I have to stay strong, what happened can't be changed but I shouldn't ever forget it either." Alfin said to herself.

The painting she draws is mostly just sketches of the city below, it looks complete but just lacking for some reason. Like a person who looks fine but completely broken inside. A perfect analogy of her drawing and herself.

She keeps on drawing, the rain could have made the paper completely wet and unusable but the thing remains the same no matter what. She just keeps drawing, ignoring everything as they flow through the river of time. That's what would things going to be if it weren't for someone who comes to interact with her.

"Hey! Why are you drawing right beneath this rain?" Kuro said to Alfin.

Alfin broke out of her thought and she turned back only to see Kuro standing behind her. She is having a mischievous smile on her face as if she is taunting her or something but also out of her own care.

"Sigh... What are you doing here?" Alfin said to the tanned little Archer behind her.

"Come on, why do you think that drawing under rain directly is a good idea? If your paper isn't going to be soggy, your clothes would have already so wet and saturated with water! Trust me, you don't want to clean up the mess that resulted from your own wet clothes so come inside please." Kuro said to Alfin.

Alfin sighed once again as she reluctantly enters back the room. Kuro thought that the floor is about to get wet from the water dripping from her clothes but Alfin just simply used a little mana of her and the heat emanated from her instantly dried her clothes up.

"That's... fine? I guess?" Kuro said to Alfin.

"Okay then, what are you here for?" Alfin said as she looks at Kuro.

"Oh? I am here just for a talk with you. There aren't much things I could do but to try around and wasting time until our Masters wake up and-" Kuro tried to strike a conversation but only for Alfin to get to the balcony once again.

"Wait! Just listen to me. okay?" Kuro said as she tried to convince her from disconnecting from her.

Alfin shrugged once again and then sits on the bed while Kuro sits nearby her. Both of them wanted to start the conversation but oddly enough, they don't know what to start first.

"You seem to be oddly calm to sit near a genocidal dictator like that." Alfin said to Kuro as he finds her calmness around her presence strange.

"To be fair, staying with dozens of Servants with no less amount of killstreaks like you probably already making me numb of that already. While the prospect may not be something I liked, I have pretty much got used to it." Kuro said to Alfin.

"Still though, your sister said that your birth was an abnormality, isn't it? You weren't born directly from your mother but rather a creation of an alter ego born from your own sister. A suppressed potential, meant to never see the light of the day. For some reason, that sounds sad to me." Alfin said to Kuro.

"So... Illya told that about you huh? Guess I should have known that considering what she did." Kuro said to her unsurprised.

"But still, what was it like for you? Do you have a form of consciousness before then? Or you just kinda exist out of nowhere when the time is right for you?" Alfin asked.

"Have you ever got thrown into the pitch-black darkness, like being thrown into a box that you virtually can't break it. There are two holes on the one side of the box and you can observe the outside through it. However, you can't move the box by yourself, you are just stuck there with that two holes being the only windows that lead to the outside world." Kuro said.

Alfin for the first time hearing what Kuro said of her story, she got interested in what does Kuro has to say. It is a bit better than what she originally thought and she seems to be interested in what she will be hearing.

"The box would be moved to a different location and that's the only moment when things changed. That's how things were like to me, to look at everything only through Illya's eyes. Incapable of making any decision, I just sort of existed like my whole existence held no meaning at all." Kuro said as she tried to unfurl all of her feelings.

Alfin attentively listens to what Kuro has to say, to hear it from another person's second-handed tales and to hear it directly is completely different to her.

"Actually, scratch that. It is more like I sitting on completely even ground and the sky is always night. There is no star but the two moons hanging completely above me always illuminating the barren landscape of the surroundings. I always looked up to it, like a dream that was too distant. It was the only way I actually even know what is happening around the girl I was sealed in. When the chance came to me, I quickly jumped out of her body like a butterfly completing its metamorphosis." Kuro said to Alfin.

Now that is something new she actually hearing from Kuro, she thought she just simply sees the world through Illya's vision and has no control over her action. But this is something entirely new to her.

"Well... Ever since then, I got quickly accepted as Illya's sister and even then, we are always at odds. It is until much later would we get along with each other and not deliberately putting each other in danger. See this mark on my belly? This was a deterrent used by my brother's friend, Rin and she used this so that whenever I make Illya felt pain, that same pain would be applied to me. That Rin has now been summoned as Ishtar and also fighting alongside us, too bad that she can't join us this Singularity though." Kuro said

Alfin swallowed her breath. Chaldea sounds completely stranger to her every time she heard more about it. A bastion of Servants driven by one single objective, the safety of humanity's future. To have such a united place like that while maintaining such a high amount of unity with each other makes it looks like a safe haven.

"Hey, so what is Chaldea is to you?" Alfin asked.

Kuro suddenly then stops, as if she is pondering about what Alfin just said. "What is Chaldea is to her?" She spent so much time around her family and fighting against humanity's threat yet never have any time left to slow down and wonder. What was Chaldea truly is to her?

"Chaldea... was like my second life. Many Servants said the same, they were heroes, died with lingering regrets and stuff they wished that they have done better. This place is their redemptions, another attempt to fix what they did, another attempt to pick other choices. Another attempt... to reattain what was previously impossible for them. To me... it was a truly loving family, a family that will never be separated, always together with one clear target in mind. It was only thanks to Chaldea that dream was possible for me. There's truly no amount of thanks can I ever repay them." Kuro said with a bit of tear flow from her eyes.

A second chance, she remembered how her life went down and how she became the monster she is right now. Redemption, a notion that was so distant to her that she never considered herself to be deserved one at all. But with Chaldea being a place for every Servant to have another chance at life, she truly wanted to be there. To live without being discriminated for her past, to live without being discriminated for her own sins. It was a heaven that Alfin finds it completely out of her own reach.

"Either way, I explained about my life story for you so what about yours?" Kuro said to Alfin.

Alfin became flustered, while Arnold knew about her entirety like reading the back of his hands, that is partly because Arnold is someone she can trust with everything no matter what. She can't help but feel anxious when she is about to disclose her past to someone who isn't him at all. Soon, she let her defensive stance down and started to tell part by parts of her adolescent till teenagehood.

Telling parts of how her father's abuse of her of a very early age that went on for a long while, the time that her brother died because of an illness and her father decided to blame it all on her dog and then killing it in cold blood. Her own upstarting of art careers and its early end. Her murdering her own father and her mother's violent death. And finally, her departure into Germany where she will leave the past behind her.

"You know, I should have known that karma will always intend to stack up until moral bankruptcy. And a person who was raised by a complete monster can only either become a saint or another monster although unfortunately, you became the latter. And the detail of how your mother died and that Dead Apostle, boy... to say I am extremely morbidly disgusted at what you just described and what I imagined is a supreme understatement in itself." Kuro said as sweats just can't stop forming on her head while listening till the end of the tale.

"And that's the end of what I know, I hope that you will now understand what happened during those pasts that I can't ever return to change them". Alfin said before she gets off her bed.

"Hold up!" Kuro tried to tell Alfin to halt for a second.

Alfin then stopped moving and turned around to Kuro only to see the expression on her face turned serious. Kuro knew something about her that she didn't even know. That calling out is unnerving her, she supposed to know all about her memory, wasn't it?

"There's something I wanted to ask, what happened after that?" Kuro asked seriously.

Alfin's heart beats repeatedly and only shows signs of going even faster. She tried to dig them up within her mind as she wanted an answer to that but nothing is turning up, like... it was left unintentionally blank. Alfin started to sweat profusely as the possibility that not all of her memory are present or revealed at all. Within that beat of moments, she lied.

"I simply went on and build the foundation that led to the creation of the Nazis, simple as that." Alfin said although it was technically half-truth.

"That's what I would have believed too. If it wasn't for something that would have otherwise caught you into it." Kuro said as she about to take something out of her skimpy attires.

A piece of paper but something is written in it, Kuro then started to read it out loud.

"After your departure for Germany, the turmoil between Hungary and Austria started to reach the breaking point and thus WW1 was declared. Due to the treaty between Austria and Germany, Germany was roped into that war and thus many people were drafted into it. And among all of them including you... Alfin..." Kuro said as she brought out the words.

Alfin knelt, she started to realize that massive glaring hole within in her memory. She jumped straight from her 18 into 22 with absolutely no memory about it. She never questioned it because she thought she jumped straight into world domination right off the bat. Considering how much she loathed the world at that time, she never gave a second thought about that glaring gap in the memory. She held onto her head, as if she started to question herself why she have no memory regarding that.

"Wah! I'm sorry, Alfin. I just tried to affirm your backstory that you're actually Hitler but I didn't think I would push you in the wrong way like that. Snap out of it!" Kuro said as she tried to calm her down.

After a while, Alfin managed to pace her breathing and then stood on her two feet. Kuro apologized to her for being too pushy and almost pushing Alfin to the boundary madness. Alfin accepted her apologies although she wonders about one thing, the paper on Kuro's hand.

"Kuro, I wonder about one thing, just why do you have something personal about me? What did I do in WW1?" Alfin asked.

"First off, there is too little information about you in WW1. The person who did the research here is my sister and she just sent this over recently. I don't even know what you did in WW1 other than the fact that you were there and made it out to the end, although even in a worse mental state." Kuro said.

Kuro's sister, did she meant it is Illya who did so? Alfin can only guess based on what she knows.

"I'm very sorry to make your mood sour after having such talk like that, I shall then concede." Kuro said before exits her room.

Alfin tried to pace her breathing back to normal, she looked at the outside and realized that the sky started to turn really dark, not that it wasn't already this dark in the first place.

"I don't know if I have ever been in WW1 myself or not... But I knew what it looks like, it is muddy, unforgiving... Once you entered, you never come out the same..." Alfin said to herself.

She knew something, even if it was insignificant, it is bound to be crucial and she needs to find a perfect time in order to tell what she knows

_*thud*_

Her heart ached, she knew something is wrong but she can't put what it is at all. She placed her hand on the chest and tried to calm down, she knew that she need to remain steadfast if she doesn't want to meet her end too soon.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**The Chain That Binds Us**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

"Damn, this rain is really starting to drag on. Not that it already is." Arnold said as he walking along the hallway.

He keeps walking along the hallway while looking at the windows along the hallway, the rain fell endlessly outside and the splatter on the rooftop keeping things from ever going quiet. That is until he heard the sounds of metal clashing somewhere.

"Huh? He already built his workshop already?" Arnold thought as he decided to check out.

Walking downstairs and heading closer to the source of those sounds, he quickly found out where Richard's workshop is. The basement, again. Richard is working on Pierce's Adamantine Armor and seems to find any possible way to upgrade it.

"Hey, are you working on that armor?" Arnold asked.

"Yeah, just blocking ranged ballistics alone isn't enough. I have to somehow turn Crisis Core into something that is capable of withstanding even greater attacks not limited just ballistics alone. It needs to withstand stabs, slashes, explosions, forces, heat, so much more that I could somehow keep finding loopholes in it. Guess that the work of an inventor just never end." Richard said.

Arnold decided to stay around for a bit and look around the place. And then something caught his eyes, it was the Hookshot installed into the right gauntlet of the armor.

"Hey, what is this?" Arnold asked.

"That's the grappling hook that I installed for Pierce so that he can increase his possible mobility options. What I am intending to do here is to make sure that my Master can survive the continuous onslaught of Servants." Richard said while he is still focusing on the armor.

Arnold looked at the grappling hook for a while and then he suddenly has an idea, he quickly takes out the sawn-off shotgun from his imaginary weapon racks as it manifests into this world.

"Richard, can you modify this thing with a grappling hook?" Arnold asked Richard.

"Not right now, if I could get this thing done in time. I may consider doing yours too." Richard said.

Arnold sighed, this thing took Richard his whole night just to make it sure to withstood against Servant without being too overly encumber to use. Considering the streak of bad lucks when it comes to how long they can rest. He might as well forget about it since one day is too little for anything, he turned around and decided to exit the workshop since there isn't anything left worth to do here.

Well, that's until he bumped into someone on the way out.

"Woah! Didn't see you there, wait... Did you change your clothes?" Arnold apologized as he also realized that the man in front of him is also wearing much different than before.

"Well, I just heard the sounds of metalworking and so I decided to come here and found you two. And you two didn't see me wearing this thing the whole time so I can forgive you for that." Shirou said while holding the communicator in his hand.

"That clothes and scents of alcohols, were you just tending a bar just now?" Richard said as he picked something up.

"Yeah, but considering that you are working on the armor, I simply decided that giving Chaldea's assistant to you is the best decision that I could make right now". Shirou said as he activates the communicator.

The communicator in his hand blared up to life and it also created a hologram of a person right ahead of it a meter away. Richard knew exactly who is that person in front of him because it is she that helped him with forging this armor in the first place. Medea.

"So, you wanted me to help him with something, again..." Medea said unamusedly.

"You know that whenever our Master is out of commissions, the burden of responsibility is placed on me and I have to make the right decision especially in the time like this. Any decision that helps us with reaching Berlin with the highest amount of success is extremely helpful, you understand?" Shirou said to her.

"I already understand that. By the way, you look really handsome in that barista outfit, aren't you?" Medea said.

"Whatever... Just focus on your job because this old man here is going to really need it. By the way, Richard, do you want a drink or something? I can serve one for you" Shirou said to him.

"Well... Guess I could use one, I guess?" Richard said.

After hearing what Richard has to say, Shirou went upstairs and head back towards the bar. Arnold meanwhile is still staying, partially because he has nowhere in mind to go to.

"So, what is that brushy stache soldier there doing?" Medea said with a bit of contempt towards Arnold.

Arnold shrugged but then he decided to ask truthfully of them. He felt that he really need to do this.

"Medea, I have a request for you. Can you add in an underslung hook shot into this shotgun?" Arnold said as he presents his sawn-off shotgun to the hologram of her.

"You want me to do what?" Medea asked as she processes his request.

"An underslung hook shot? Like the one that I used for Pierce's gauntlet?" Richard asked so that he can clarify things up.

Arnold nodded, out of all his arsenals, the sawn-off shotgun is powerful at close-range but good luck getting anyone near it. Servants would get away as soon as possible and mostly overkill on Azure Soldiers. And thus the shotgun is made redundant in most situations.

"You know, I could actually make that, especially with the stuff I have right now. Just give me a good look at it and I will send over the modification that I will make for you." Medea said after she inspects the shotgun.

Deciding to place his trust in Richard and Medea. He decided to overseer the whole operation process. The communicator is also able to project the surrounding of the other side into this place and thus he could have a much better view of the esteemed Chaldea he heard so much about.

The workshop of the other side doesn't seem to be much bigger than how he thought but considering it is a mobile base, he shouldn't have expected a grandiose workshop filled with everything that is capable of making the impossibility real. But even then, the tools there are much better than Richard's improvised workshop.

"Okay then, because of these chain links are going to be made out of Adamantine, a metal that is so durable that not even a Servant can break it with normal attacks alone. The process will be long and tedious due to just its own innate durability and thus we will going to be resort to a lot of tools just to make it." Medea said as she describes the characteristics.

"But still, how did such a metal like this were gone in the first place?" Arnold asked out of curiosity.

"This metal was abundances during the Age of God but only those of greatest of blacksmiths is capable of discerning and forging a powerful weapon out of it. Otherwise, it is a lump of useless mass to others. Ever since the declination of the Age of God, this metal was soon phased out and then exhausted before mass minings were a thing. The only way to obtain it is through the alchemization of mana and we will need a decent amount of it each time. Although there is far more expensive stuff we usually work with, it is still something to not waste if possible." Medea explained.

Arnold simply nodded as mystical stuff like this just not sticking at all to his mind. Age of God? Declination? All of this mumbo-jumbo just not simply stuff to swallow down in one single moment for a person like him.

"But either way, first we cast molten Adamantine into this mold so that we can turn it into a rod." Medea said as she pouring the liquified Adamantine into the mold.

The red hot liquid then flows into the cast and soon cooled down, Medea then using her magecraft to carefully lift the rod out of the cast and then placed it on what looks like a ritual circle.

"We don't have the kinds of automated manufacturing machinery but we have the magecraft on our side so why don't we just utilizing it to the fullest." Medea said before she channels her mana into it.

The circle then started to illuminate and the rod then begins to cut itself into multiple parts and then bent themselves into chain links and automatically connected with each other. A rod of Adamantine as long as her height turned into a chain with the length not even reaching her waist.

"You know this isn't the end yet, right?" Medea said unamusedly.

Arnold already knew that. What is the use of a chain that can't even reach more than even a meter? He knew that Medea is probably one of the greatest mages in the entirety of humanity's history. He isn't wrong to think it that way because how else did she become the leader of Chaldea's Magecraft Division?

"You wouldn't be wrong to assume that way. She is on the top five of the most powerful magus in the entirety of humanity's history, her talents would have easily made her the leader by everyone's decision regardless of what she does." Shirou said as he is carrying a tray with a bottle of bourbon and a glass with ice cubes in it.

Shirou then placed the tray on the workshop table and then lean himself against the wall. Richard decided to pour himself a glass of it for himself.

"Hah, bourbon, just like those good old times when I still going to the tavern of those Wild West Era. Those pleasant notes of vanilla, oak and caramels, they were surely the stuff that every working-class people needed just to forget that deplorable life they were in." Richard said as he sips on the glass of bourbon.

Arnold then turned around to the hologram projection and suddenly shuddered that the chain has already reached 10 meters long. He noticed that she used speed coolant and then the whole spells just automated the process. She didn't even need to lift a finger for this whole job. In just a little while, the whole process is completed

"Done, I shall then send this over now so that Richard will finish up the underslung hook shot. If there is anything you wanted me to do, just simply contact me." Medea said.

"That's if our Master would just lend us this communicator. Now, I shall then draw the rayshift point so that the Adamantine chain can be sent here." Shirou said as he grabbed a piece of mana chalk within his apron's pocket and draw a rayshift circle around it.

And then a pile of chain connected to a dual bayonet shaped like a claw formed in the circle. Arnold shudders at the idea of being at the receiving end of this thing.

"Just in time, I just got done with the internal mechanism and the improvement of the smoothbore system of this thing. Now I just need to somehow hammer this entire 30 meters of chain..." Richard said.

"Shall I lend you a hand then? I got some trick in regard to spatial... how do I put this?" Medea tried to remember the rest of the name of the spell she intended to invoke but for some reason, it slips out of her mind. A genius doesn't mean they are immune to mistakes and mishaps.

"Sigh... Guess I shall return to the bar then?" Shirou said as he walks upstairs so that he can exit the room.

Arnold watches Richard and Medea working together in order to turn the sawn-off into a weapon of mass destruction. The smithereens flying off and the mana residual flying in the air, Arnold can't help but feel the powerful aura of itself lingering in his surroundings.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Grip of Steel**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

"Jump, now!" Richard said to Arnold as he overseers the whole process of Arnold's proficiency with the improved sawn-off.

Arnold quickly jumps off the buildings that he is running on. By running on, he meant that he is running on the wall itself. When he almost reached the edge of the wall itself, he quickly jumps off it and rebound to another building's wall.

Richard is overseeing Arnold's test. After the modification is completed, they decided to test it in the abandoned city that the mansion overlooked. There are many tall buildings around here and this whole place was densely populated until everyone just suddenly decided to be up and vanished. What's left behind is just abandoned buildings, desolated and empty and rotting down to its inevitability.

Arnold continuously jumping from this wall to another wall. With the speed that he moves at, his own steps cracked the wall on each building itself. Soon he found a section ahead of him completely collapsed and he can't just simply jump towards there while running horizontally against a wall. Knowing what to do, he drew his improved sawn-off.

This thing is still very much like the same, wood furnish, steel compartments. But there is one thing different about it, the underslung grappling hook launcher made out entirely out of Adamantine. The claw acts like a grappling hook and can extend itself to reach anywhere within 30m from where it is fired. To fire the Hookshot, Arnold has to press the secondary trigger on the top right behind the barrel selector.

"Now!" Arnold thought as he pressed it.

The Hookshot extends itself and the metallic sounds of chains unfolding can be heard. The thing then eventually caught into a building across the collapsed area and clung there. Arnold then let his body go, not pulling the gun towards him or anything, just do nothing and let the gun do the rest.

The improved sawn-off then pulled him towards the building across the collapsed area with unusually fast speed. Within nearly a second, he completely cut that distance and landed his feet on the vertical wall itself and continue his sprinting across it.

"Good job! You got down the basic already!" Richard said as he ran across the buildings along with him on the roof.

Arnold then proceeds to calculate his path carefully and then slowly but surely made back towards the ground. Richard jumped straight from the rooftop to the ground without cracking the ground at all. It depends on a Servant's strength and if they applied too much force, the ground will shatter like a rock into fragile glass.

"Okay, since you have got down the basic already. We shall then move into the firing of this gun. I shall throw at you some target and it is your job to fire them at them accurately. Get it?" Richard said to Arnold as he quickly getting away from the distance from Arnold.

Richard then grabbed a huge chunk of cemented bricks and hurled it at Arnold. Arnold quickly drew his shotgun and fired both barrels at once the chunk of bricks get closer to him. The result, the chunk of bricks was blasted straight into dust. While he is at it, he quickly breeches open the shotgun and reloaded it with the 12 gauge shells with a single twirl. All of them were done so fast that his actions can be compared to a lever-action shotgun.

"You got it down alright? Now let's see how well you would do this?" Richard said before he grabs even more stuff up.

Arnold braced for whatever Richard might do. In the next second, Richard threw five huge chunks of them at Arnold at a speed that it broke the sound barriers in a mere instant from the moment they left Richard's hand. Arnold's distance from Richard was just roughly 20 meters away and those chunks of cemented brick are being hurled at him at hypersonic speed. Pushing his reflex to the limit, he fired the sawn-off with one shell for one chunk.

When he has to reload, he has quickly done so to the point that others would see him completely skipped it. When the last chunk is about to land him right on the face, he pressed the secondary trigger and destroy that rubble right in the instant with the hook shot.

"Too close, aren't ya? Either way, the next step is that you try to strike down this boulder before it lands on me." Richard said as he lifts up a huge boulder that he picked out of nowhere.

Richard then proceeds to throw it up in the air vertically by 600 meters high. Arnold's next test is to pick the right timing to catch that boulder with the Hookshot so that it won't flatten Richard like a pancake.

"Okay, I just need to calculate when I should firing the Hookshot, I should be able to figure out the remaining distance so that I can fire it right at that time. 30 meters reach, I am away from him about 20 meters. Utilizing Pythagoras, I have to use it right at roughly 22 meters." Arnold calculates the moment he should fire it just within a one-tenth of a second.

However, he also realized something, something at falling at such a great high will without a doubt falling extremely fast. It might not even be a second remain for him to do so. It is not just picking the right moment but also patient and level-headed no matter the tension and stress. That's true, he is a soldier back in WW1, he managed to make through that torturous hell and thus he should be able to keep calm no matter what.

He keeps waiting while the air just getting stiffer overtimes. Base on his calculation, he has roughly 11 seconds before the boulder would suddenly crush Richard. Richard looks oddly calmed despite the prospect of getting killed by his own test, yet he doesn't show any signs of anxiety at all. Richard has placed his conviction entirely on Arnold.

Arnold is still waiting while counting the number silently in his mind. His finger on the secondary trigger is twitching although it is completely indiscernible by mortal eyes. When his countdown reached the number "1", he quickly fired the Hookshot right above where Richard is. Surprisingly, the grappling hook _did _catch the boulder right before it crushes Richard. Mustering every fiber of strength he has, he yanked the chain right back at him and pulled the huge boulder along with it.

With the boulder now flying towards Arnold, he quickly counted his blessings and quickly fired both barrels at once the moment the boulder is now closed to him. In the next instant, the boulder shattered into particles.

"Good job! You know how to keep a clear mind even in the highest of tension." Richard said.

Arnold breathed in heavily, that moment was so stressful that the sense of relief washing over him is nothing short but divine to him. But he knew this isn't over for him yet. There is still one more test before it is declared complete.

"Now, this will the 'make it or break it' moment. This will be the final test you have to go through, once you have done so, nothing will be able to stop you from reaching greatness." Richard said,

Here it is, the final test. What will Richard do? What kind of test will Arnold be subjected to? This yearn-to-be-answered question will soon reach its conclusion in just a short amount of time.

Richard decided to move away from Arnold into a distance. Arnold meanwhile just stood there and braced for whatever may be thrown at him. Just as Arnold decided to wander his mind a bit, the ground started shaking to the point Arnold has to brace himself in order to avoid being staggered.

He then looked into the distance and realized that something is wrong. In the next moment, something jumped up into the air and carrying something. No, it isn't just something. It's... a whole large building itself. And it is Richard who is carrying it. It is really easy to forget that Richard is a Servant despite having the appearance of an old man. Also, the fact that Servants are a force of nature that nothing made by human hand can even be compared to them. Carrying a huge building like that on his shoulder to him is the same amount of difficulty of carrying a stick.

"Now! Show me what you are capable of!" Richard yelled with all at the top of his lung as he threw the buildings at Arnold like a javelin.

Despite its colossal size, the thing doesn't move any slower even when air resistance was accounted for. From a distance of roughly 100 meters away, this massive building is going to collide with him at Mach 50, how on earth that he has the strength to do such a throw is forever unanswered but Arnold knew that he needed to do something about this, now!

Fortunately for Arnold though, Richard makes all of these tests because he knew there is always an answer to each of these. And Arnold is holding an answer to it in his hand.

The speed it is flying is near-instantaneous, Arnold's mind focused itself to the point it tries to splitting even milliseconds into micro, micro straight into nano. Adrenaline overflow like Noah's flood, time has come to almost a standstill in his perception. The building that it wouldn't take even a one-thousandth of a second in order to flatten him like a paper is now moving slower than a slug to him.

Arnold doesn't understand why he has time perception manipulation like this but he wouldn't question it at all. It probably has something to do with all of his miraculous survival as a soldier back in WW1 but other than that, he got nothing else in order to link together.

The 12 gauge barrels won't be enough to blow this building apart, much as his dismay. He needs something even more powerful and fortunately enough, he has an ace in his sleeve. Or more exactly, the ace that is given directly by Richard first hand before this training.

The sawn-off in his hand actually has a secret feature in it directly, its barrels are interchangeable and capable of changing quickly. But with what exactly? In the next moment, Arnold takes out what looks like the same sawn-off barrels from before but with a few differences. The color is silver-gray like Adamantine, it is full of ornate carving throughout the barrels itself. Unless one examined it directly, they would mistake it for steel. The bore diameter is significantly larger than the 12 gauge version which can only mean a bigger caliber.

Changing the barrel quickly for the Adamantine version, he takes out the far bigger shells for the Adamantine version. It is irradiating with destructive power that is unbelievable. Loading them into the Adamantine sawn-off, he quickly finishes the reloading process and aimed it towards the building that by some sorts of miracle haven't crumbled by its own sheer speed. Like a bidding farewell, he silently said.

_Blasphemy..._

He pulled the trigger and a massive torrent of ballistics tore the whole building apart with force greater than a hurricane. The sheer destructive impact went on for a huge distance while tearing the terrains and any remaining infrastructures on its path. It didn't even stop even when the ballistics are already hundreds of meters away from its firing.

Richard who was in midair when all of this happened and thus was exempted from being at the receiving end. Directing his falls toward somewhere safer, he landed on top of a building that wasn't disturbed. On his face is a smile, a smile that came from knowing that his weapon managed to surpass his expectation.

"How do you feel about it? Really powerful isn't it?" Richard said to Arnold who is checking the gun's condition,

The muzzle of the gun is burning hot to the point it warps the air around it. Arnold then proceeds to breach the gun open and seeing the burning smoke came out of it. Any raindrops landed on the heated part turned into steam immediately

"Unreal..." Arnold thought as he sees the gun's aftermath for itself.

"That's the power of the 4 gauge shell for itself, too powerful for safety uses of it. But when the pushes come to shove, then this buddy here is your best bet." Richard said.

Of course, the 4 gauge here isn't just Servants modified, they were broken charged and filled to the brim with mana. This thing's power can reach the scale of NP easily. Due to manufacture difficulty, this type of shells should be used sparingly unless necessary.

The Blasphemy, a shotgun with a huge amount of power. Once the claw of this thing latched onto you, pray that your death is instant. If not, you will be yearning for death while missing a huge chunk of your body as the agonies will make you too distraught to have any rational thought.

"And so the test is completed, you have such a natural performance and mastery for close-quarter combat and have a talent decent enough for long-range. If you were a hero from an old era, you will be a force to be reckoned. But of course, if you were, you won't be here and I just glad to see such a talented soldier like you." Richard said as he departs for the mansion.

Arnold stood there beneath the rain while looking up towards the sky, he wonders when did he want to become stronger in the first place, when did he became obsessed with wanting to enhance his capability. Was it because of the pretense and envy of everyone else? Or because it was his inferiority complex? He realized why he shouldn't even question himself and going philosophical like this.

Arnold sighed and tried to check whatever is in his clothes, he found something in his pocket. The poppy flower from before, it stuck inside there for who knows how longs right now. When he finally sees it, he realized why he was so obsessed with getting stronger in the first place.

It is to protect Alfin, the flower of sacrifice in his hand reminded him why he started acting like this. Alfin... her identity, she is a Servant with the identity of Adolf Hitler, with all of the sins she committed, there is no way she could act fine naturally when having all of those burdened her. He knew that she is putting on the brave face to not worry everyone but that slumbering wrath of her is going to be unleashed one day. It is not now nor anywhere near future but definitely during their quest. He just hopes that he is strong enough in order to stop her from descending into madness once again like the last time did so that the world and she paid the price.

Arnold took a deep breath, he is thinking too much on his mind right now to think logically. For the best of his sanity, he decided to return to the mansion, knowing that he got a reason to do so.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Everlasting Feelings**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

"So... we are installing these mana lamps?" Kiritsugu said as he examines the one on his hands.

"What else can we do? There is no electricity here, these cost-effective mana lamps are the last thing we can use so that we won't have anyone to stumble needlessly in the dark" Shirou said to his father.

"Whatever, guess all I can do is to set them up as fast as I could around this place". Kiritsugu said as he takes a few lamps with him.

"Guess I will install this in the kitchen then". Shirou said as he brought one with him.

And so the father and son split up and do their own things, leaving the box of lamps right at where they split up. Needless to say though, it is only bound for someone to take a few of it when left alone like that

"What's this?" Arnold said as he picks one up from the box.

Arnold checked the functionality of the lamp itself, he then turns the screw knob and the lamp begins to illuminate depends on how much he turned the knob.

"Hmm, so it is like an oil lamp, the more I turn the knob, the brighter its light," Arnold thought as he turns the light intensity in order to test its function.

He then noticed that there is a switch nearby the screw knob. He switched it and the light turned from white to warm yellow. Finding it fascinating, he decided to bring one around with him and placed it in his room.

The night approached and the rain outside doesn't stop either, the warm light that the lamp gives off makes him felt at ease. The warm feelings stir up inside make him felt satisfied just by in its presence alone. Also, the surroundings felt like completely fantastical that it is like another world to him.

And if you really think about it, this lamp is made by the organization that involves saving humanity itself. It is more than obvious that quality would be top-notch since they had to accommodate many Servants. There are so many ways to use and appreciate this thing that he can't help but be thankful for Chaldea.

Lying on his bed while basking on the light, he relaxed and try to not overthinking about things. He closed his eyes for a bit and then he heard something.

"Piano?" Arnold thought as he opened his eyes again as he heard something from the room above him.

From what is being currently played, he could make a guess that it belongs to no sorts of pre-recorded piano songs, not even Mozart or Salieri or even any renowned musician in the first place. Just something created entirely original. The melancholic feelings it evokes are very much real as if conveying the feeling of its writer.

"Strange, I don't even remember if anyone here really knows how to play piano". Arnold said

He decided to check out what that person is and so he exits the room he is in, only to bump into someone on the way out. It was Shirou and he seems to be startled.

"Woah, didn't see you there, Arnold". Shirou said as he encountered Arnold at his room's doorstep.

"Didn't see you there either for a second. By the way, do you know what is that song being played on the piano right now?". Arnold said as he points to the piano sounds on the upper floor.

"I wish that my piano skill is as half as good as my culinary skill, even if I haven't ever played a single piano. I can still able to make an educated guess. Just because simply having Mozart and Salieri as your fellow Servants and always hearing their competitions between each other for every day makes me pretty much knowledgable when it comes to music. Trust me, even if I am not paying attention, those music notes still somehow drilled into my mind". Shirou thinks for a little while before he said it straightforwardly.

"So can you tell what it is?". Arnold asked

"Whatever it is, that thing is definitely an original composition. Even Mozart and Salieri can staunch on that fact". Shirou said.

Arnold decided to move towards the next floor but before he took a step, he doesn't remember that there was a piano right above the room he chose and thus decided to ask about that.

"Wait, I don't remember to come across the room with a piano in it or at least, know that there is a piano here in the first place.". Arnold said.

"To be fair, the room above you were locked. Servants have the strength that is simply unfathomable by even human's standard, that is simultaneously a blessing and a curse. I could have easily forced open that room but decided to go against it because I might also create a huge hole in this only shelter we have. Us Servants aren't exactly the type to make a balance in our power output, we either be a normal person or annihilate this one particular spot for no reason." Shirou said as he scratches the back of his head.

"Wait, when was the last time you checked that room?" Arnold asked again.

"I spent my entire afternoon in that self-serving bar and testing out the cocktail combinations, I just recently have done with kitchen duty right now so I am not even sure.". Shirou said.

Arnold decided that he have enough information and so he went upstairs to check it out. Just when he arrived at what exactly guessed to be above his room, he noticed that the lock is showing signs of being picked open. At least it is definitely not someone who forcefully destroy it, that is what he could tell for sure. He then reaches for the doorknob and hearing those melancholic piano sounds even clearer.

_**Words of God: **__** You know the drill, Melancholic Voice for this part.**_

He opened the door and inside the room was dimly lit with that same mana lamp he uses, there are some empty decorating pots that he could tell used to have a plant in it but withered away long ago and a large window that is built to illuminate the room with sunlight during daytime. In the middle of the room, is an old piano and one person who is playing it, Alfin...

Her hands' movements are graceful as it presses the notes with the perfect tempo that only serves to increase the moodiness effect of her song. She keeps playing, not letting anything around her affecting her performance. Arnold stood there watching the performance befitting a prodigy being played in front of him. He isn't exactly the type to be art savvy but he still appreciates a good performance no matter what, especially when it is due to be so.

And when the performance is completed, Arnold can't help but clap his hands for the fantastic performance she just gives. Alfin noticed and suddenly turned around to see him giving her his congratulations.

"Arnold?" Alfin said in surprise.

"Did I barge in this place at the wrong time? If so then let me apologize and I shall leave." Arnold said in courtesy as he takes a step back.

"No, it is alright. I just wanted to vent my feelings in some way that doesn't involve causing destruction. I have to say though, I just simply letting my mind fill in the blank page of the song. I just simply got the inspiration and then just let it flow like that. Guess that I will just become a paradox in itself, a warlord with a love for something completely opposite of her.

Arnold sighed, after all of those times with her. He understood Alfin's psychology like the back of his hand after witnessing her memories, after fighting alongside her for so long. Seeing her deny herself like this, he knew that he has to step into action.

"Alfin, you are using self-depreciation as a mask to hide your desire for happiness. I know that you are yearning for those feelings, those emotions that you are deprived of for so long that you forget what it felt like. You desire them but at the same time, you tried to keep on a brave face that is saying you can still keep going but you felt too exhausted to keep up with the facade itself." Arnold said.

Alfin sits there on the piano stool for a moment and then she smiled wryly.

"Guess you see me through clearly then... That's true, I yearn for happiness more than how you could possibly imagine. For every second that I could fight alongside you, my heart blossomed with more happiness more than how you could even think of, because after all... you are the only person who chooses to believe in me, not the identity that I was forced to carry along with." Alfin said with acceptance in her voice.

Arnold breathes a sigh of relief, seeing that Alfin opens up with him makes him felt much better right now. Well, that is until she started to ask this one particular question.

"Arnold, is the part where I killed my father is the only memory you witness? Because all of the actions leading to this point show that you seem to be far more knowledgable about me more than how I would assume". Alfin said to him.

Arnold's body became stiff, he started to feel anxious when she noticed something doesn't feel right. But he also knew that there is no point in trying to lie to her and thus he decided to come clean about how he knew her so much.

"I first came to aware of your earliest memory of being an adolescent being constant beatdown by the very person that you used to call as "father" and then your brother's death during an outbreak that you have virtually no control over who die or not and your dog also got caught up in it because of you own "father"'s vanity. And then when you thought you finally find a way to express your feelings in a way that can't possibly be thought wrong but still get trampled over anyway. That's when you decided to take the matter into your own hand and kill him yourself but your suffering never ended there and still go on until your departure for Germany." Arnold gives a summary of what he witnessed in Alfin's memory.

Alfin sits there while closing her eyes and thinking about what Arnold just said before proceeding with the conversation.

"That's true, you very much describe the memory of my adolescence time". Alfin said to him.

Arnold glad that things don't suddenly blow up but he didn't realize he still haven't off the hook yet.

"How did you observe my memory, that's what I wanted to know.". Alfin said.

Arnold once again decided to come out truthfully with all he knows. Despite the anxiety gripping him harder, he still decided to speak it to her.

"Like a wraith that haunting someone, I simultaneously exist and not at the same time. I just simply an observer over oneself, incapable of interacting with anything at all in anyone's memory." Arnold said.

Alfin thought for a while but this time, she seems to think deeply in solemn as what Arnold said. A little while later, she then turned towards him and said.

"You know, that is also the same to me too.". Alfin said.

Arnold suddenly in shock of what he just said, she also looking at someone else's memory? Right after hearing what she have to say, he knew he needs her to give him an answer to what she just meant.

"Alfin, what do you mean it is the same to you?" Arnold asked in concern

"Arnold, what would you do if you realized that there is a massive gap in your memory, one that you can't even make a guess of what it was like?" Alfin said to him.

Arnold doesn't understand what she meant, because even he doesn't have all of his memory at all. Not a gap but rather just one small fragment that somehow managed to avoid erasure. But he could still see the seriousness of the implication she meant.

"I don't really know what to feel but losing it can be a huge implication if that is what I could guess." Arnold makes a wild guess with all he knows.

"Arnold, a proper human don't go suddenly lose one specific fragment of their memory, they either lose them all due to amnesia or not. The only memories I have are my childhood and WW2 and trust me, you don't want to see my memory of WW2's event. You don't want to see the atrocity I committed during those times and so I will spare you from details. But you realized something is missing between those events right?" Alfin said.

Arnold can only nod, he knew he is about to enter a forbidden area if he still going on but he has already made it this far anyway, might as well braving them.

"The missing part is what I believe is the memory of WW1, anyone who lives through it will never forget how catastrophic it was and will never forget the pain and sorrow it caused that time as long as they lived. Think about it, such a major event like that and I having absolutely no memory of despite clearly matched up with the time. But even then, I knew about it because of one thing, I witness it unfold through your perspective, your memory." Alfin said to Arnold.

Arnold's eyes widened, hearing that she also sees his memory too shocked him that she could do the same to him but it only bounds to make sense. She never noticed him when he watches her memory unfolded and the same might have also applied to him. He might have never able to notice her witnessing him because neither of them can interact physically nor even spiritually. She might have been following him to every step ever since the first one even.

"The ceaseless rain, the muddy terrain, the lives died and returned to the soil, the evermoving gears of the war machines... To see the marvel of humanity's progress turned the world into a living hell, I truly have no words to describe how it actually felt to me. And even if there were less life lost in that war compare to WW2, it is still one nasty cesspool that should never be allowed to repeat. And yet here we are, in the aftermath of WW2 despite having already seen the pointlessness of it." Alfin said while she started to be tearful as if she regrets letting her own madness caused such destruction of a huge scale like this forever scar on this earth.

Alfin then started to cry as if her own existence is just simply to bring about needless hatred and destruction, the fact that she could have potentially become something much better than this, someone who would bring good into this world but the world decided that she has to be dealt with the worst possible hands and turned her into an incarnation of evil itself. Arnold looking at her being pitiful at herself, not knowing what to exactly do. Should he leave her alone or should he try to comfort her?

While the sky outside roars with thunder, the sounds of each drop of tears of her held more weight than the rain outside. She wanted redemption but the world has already forsaken her long ago, nobody in their right mind would ever accept her knowing what she did. Arnold sits nearby her but stuck in a dilemma of what to do, seeing her crying and mule over herself, he decided that he will choose one final decision. He has no regret left, he will choose to save her while she is still within his arms reach.

He held on to her as tight as he could, letting his embrace to calm her down. Alfin feeling his warmth as she started to stop crying, Arnold tried to keep the conversation so that he can draw her away from the darkness within herself.

"Alfin! Don't try to shoulder everything yourself. Even if the world may turn its back against you, I would still be here for you no matter what. You tried to make yourself appeared brave, you tried to make yourself a monster so that no one would ever try to make you suffer anymore but in truth, you are still very much a gentle girl who desired love.". Arnold said as he tried to encourage her.

Arnold knew very much one thing, while Hitler's crime was unquestionably undeniable, he still very much cared about it during the earliest years in power. Volkswagen is the very proof of that, the ban on cigarette consumption the moment it was linked to lung cancer. Perhaps... if he became her supporting pillar, her fate will be averted from reaching that same end. But that requires a very demanding dedication on the border of sacrifice. It will be an answer that ultimately resting on him alone, is he capable of doing it?

Gather the spirit that he can muster, trying to convey these simple words to her is harder than carrying the world itself to him. Because after all, a Servant can easily overcome physical obstacles but a mental barricade? That requires a whole new level of mental strength. But Arnold still steps forward in order to do so, because to him, she is entirely his world.

_"Alfin... I... I love you..." _Arnold said albeit there is hesitation in it, the feelings are what truly matters.

Those words reached the depth of her soul. For the first time, she felt something that was too distant for her to reach. Like a sliver of light illuminating the depth. They may not have any meaning to anyone else but to her... not even all of the treasure in this world can ever have as much worth compare to it.

Happiness... much like how Kiritsugu reexperienced love after the hardship that makes him devoid of any emotion but loath and disgust, it completely rejuvenates him and turned him into a different kind of person. A man that is a cold-blooded assassin in the frontline and a loving and caring father during the time at peace. Love is, after all, a drug of pure emotions that can change a person entirely. For a tortured soul, reaching it is nothing but short of Heaven's Feel.

Her eyes started to become teary, but those tears of not of sadness or sorrow but the tears of genuine happiness. To finally feel at peace, she will never trade anything for this feeling that she is experiencing. She smiled for finally having someone that she can truly call her beloved.

_"I... I love you too..."_ Alfin admitted it truthfully, even if she finds it embarrassing to say so, she glad that she can finally let those words out of her chest.

They together embraced each other for who knows how long, the world around them keeps moving and never stand still but those are meaningless to them as they indulge their newfound love of each other.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Reaching The Bottom of The Truth**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

"Eeeeeiiiii... How long did I do this? Why am I still so deadset on trying to find the potential Nazi's Servants? I mean they can still handle whoever it is themselves, right?" Sitonai said tiredly as she is buried beneath a ton of documents she tried to analyze the potential enemy they might going to fight through.

Sorting out the documents again, cross-referencing even with a personal laptop is still a massive pain in itself. She has read over 8 books with the thickness of a foundation brick when averaged by the total amount of pages. The amount of data she put into the laptop started to reach GBs in just text alone. Not even counting the amount of data that consists of pictures and edits. Despite having the internet completely downloaded into Shadow Border's database, she still struggling to find any information regarding the enemy-turned former ally of theirs, Alice. An enigma in itself.

"Someone like her would be an unfathomable threat to be faced, what she capable of, not even Gilgamesh could probably deal with her..." Sitonai said in worry as she sorts things out.

Sitonai sighed, there is too much stuff going right now for her. Trying to tackle a problem alone probably not gonna do anything much but she knew that she can't just rope everyone into this without a reason at all.

"Still trying to fight things head-on alone, aren't you?" A dignified voice said from right beside her.

Sitonai startled as she heard that voice and almost swung her sword at him. Fortunately for that man though, the Mystic Code he has on him all the time allowed him to dodge repeated barrages of attacks while still remaining calm and rational.

"Wah! I'm sorry!" Sitonai said as she realizes who she just swung her blade at.

"No worry, I don't blame you for acting so. So what's the matter here?" Waver said to her as he sits in the seat right next to her.

"And don't worry about it either, Onee-chan. I'm still here to help you, I just don't feel like being sidelined when all of our family members are at stake." Miyu said to her eldest sister.

"You two... Thanks..." Sitonai said gratefully to them when they willing to give her support.

They then together situate themselves in the most comfortable position they could find while not hampering their performance. Waver then asks for Sitonai to give him the laptop so that he can search for information faster which Sitonai obliged without asking for anything.

"By the way Waver-san, aren't you the most veteran Servants out of everyone here?" Miyu asked the tactician.

Waver simply nodded, searching for precise stuff on the internet is no simple task and he doesn't wish to waste more time on needless chatter unless he may find it useful for a break.

"Well, I can't blame you for not knowing him well. The man would accompany our Master in all missions no matter how minor it may be and thus you may not see him all the time. And you know that I hear it from my father that he is among one of the earliest Servants if not the first. You know the first ten summons that carries our Master at the beginning of his quest? He was among one of them." Sitonai explains to her sister.

Right after Sitonai has done explaining to her sister, Waver finishes up with a loud press into the enter button. He then breathes heavily as if he holds his breath in the entire time while continuously typing.

"That's true, my time serving your Master stretched back to the first day of Chaldea itself although the beginning wasn't exactly what you called a good start. But even then, while I am just a pseudo-Servant with Zhuge Liang's spirit origin, I very much inherited all of his power and Servant's parameter. The rest is ultimately up to me. I simply giving our Master my advice while he is the one to execute all of them flawlessly, that is all there is to what I do.". Waver said to Sitonai.

"Yeah right, simply what you do. Simple enough that you were one of the chosen to remain so that the Chaldea staff can make it out of the facility in case something disastrous happened. Not that anything managed to change though if Onii-chan told me correctly." Sitonai said to Waver.

"It was my fault that I can't predict something disastrous like that would happen, but Da Vinci's death... although she has a backup plan which she is in the little girl version of her right now, it was my fault that I can't save her in time back when that happened." Waver said.

"Waver-san, neither anyone could really save her. Onii-chan could have done so, Cu-san could have attempted, even Jii-san too but none of them are able to attempt when humanity's fate was at stake in that very split second. You have nothing to blame on yourself." Sitonai said as she sympathies with him.

"Jeez, when did this become a blame game? But anyway, look at what I found." Waver said annoyedly until he directs everyone's attention towards what he managed to dig up in the database.

Apparently, he managed to obtain access to dark web although there is no risk of hackers because pretty much everyone except Gudao is dead and thus making their Master the last human if he failed to stop the Lostbelts from altering humanity's timeline.

"All of the information I obtained may come from conspiracy theories so take all of them with a grain of salt, OK?" Waver said as he quickly decrypts a page address to reach the site.

The Wunderwaffe, or translated into "Miracle Weapon". They are weapons that might capable of huge destruction should they managed to get out of the prototype stage. They might even change the entire face of war the moment they entered the fray. Due to reaching the end of the war, most of them although invented, were incapable of changing the tide due to too little or still remaining in prototype.

"Damn, just imagine what if they were to become real, the whole war would have resulted in a huge amount of destruction that might permanently impact the world if it managed to drag on". Miyu said in worry that something like this might have happened in the Singularity.

"And that's not all, I will have to break into classified information bank in US Government's database, the fate of the world is at stake and thus I got no choice to do so, all gloves are off and here I go." Waver said as he started.

While the classified database is not connected to any external sources, Chaldea having connections with the UN and thus allowed some clearance and connection at some levels but not the fullest. When the pruning happened, the Shadow Border downloaded their entire database, including the encrypted data due to cyber network protection system completely collapsed. What Waver is doing is that he will break into the most classified area will warrant trouble if caught in any circumstances but now.

Sitonai sits there while Waver focuses on breaking through the defense system, she keeps thinking about one certain person that is currently fighting alongside her family. Alfin, or more exactly, Hitler... Her ability to recreate anything that was made by Nazi Germany during WW2, even the P1500 Ratte which was just a concept that has no hope of becoming real and yet, here they are, watching it fighting against the shadow of London's past.

"To hammer the nail of fallacy into reality..." Sitonai whispered for herself and no one else to hear.

If she could do so, even Wunderwaffe won't be too out of her capability. In fact, they might be the strongest cards within her assets. One that is capable of turning the tide once they were deployed.

"Okay, let's see what is in here..." Waver said as he about to read the classified information.

The first words and he already has his suspicion confirmed, it was a file about a bell that is capable of instantly killing anyone who heard of it. It seems that Hitler has also dipped into occultism at some levels and having this bell created. The bell has that same jet black color much like Alice's one is. But there is a catch...

"The sizes compared between them is a discrepancy in itself. Alice's bell was small enough to fit on her palm but the one we know is extremely large to the point it has to be fit into a church hall." Waver said in worry.

This proves that Alice is related to the Nazi in one way or another, the fact that she has that bell proven that her betrayal was an inevitability in itself. Who knows the whereabouts of that bell in normal history but they knew it has to be confiscated by the US Government after WW2 ended.

"Looks like we are about to descend into a rabbit hole. As if there is a choice to remain in the first place. Sitonai, Miyu... Prepare your notebooks and documents, we are going to the deep end of this madness." Waver said encouragingly as he furiously types on the laptop.

Sitonai and Miyu nodded, this isn't simply concerning them anymore. This is about the fate of humanity on balance, they made it this far and they won't turn back no matter what.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Onwards to Execution**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

A new day shined through the window with the dim-lit light through the window. Arnold is back in his room, sleeping soundly on his bed like nothing has happened the night before. He opened his eyes and sees the white ceiling greeting him first. He turned around to his side and sees... Alfin, in his bed with him. She is half-naked with her skin exposed for him to see with the only covering her is the blanket that he is also using.

He then looked at himself and also realized that he is also naked like her too, he looked at his well-toned body and the steel-hard abs which only make sense given that he was a soldier in one of the nastiest war in human history.

Alfin then woke up and scratches her eyes with one hand while the other held onto the blanket that is still covering her body. She then looked at him and suddenly jumped out of the bed while still holding onto the blanket when she noticed that both of them are naked. The result, she just completely revealed Arnold's private part when she took the blanket that is covering him.

"EH!" Alfin yelled in panic as she sees him completely naked.

"Alfiiiiin!" Arnold yelled as she just completely took off his only cover of privacy by a single whim.

After a little while, both of them leaning on the bed, still naked and letting the pure white blanket cover their private parts.

"I guess that we got too passionate last night, huh?" Arnold said as Alfin covers her face in shyness.

Guess that they have done what any passionate couple would do, there is nothing surprising here but they still feel uncomfortable by that fact.

Alfin sighed before letting her hand go and embraced the fact that she might have done it with Arnold but at the same time, she felt happy just to be closer with a person she loved.

"Arnold... Promise me that we will never separate from each other, okay?" Alfin said cheerfully to him once again.

Arnold wanted to say that he agrees with her but he then noticed something outside the window, it was Alfin's hawk and it tried to say something to them. Alfin also noticed it and quickly heads toward the window without caring that she is completely naked. She opened it and the hawk quickly lands on her shoulder.

"Scree scree scree" The hawk tried to say something to her.

"Silbern? What do you mean?" Alfin said to her hawk.

"Scree scree..." Silbern tried to speak to her about something.

The moment she deciphered what Silbeern is saying to her, her expression changed. It was full of happiness now suddenly become serious as she noticed that something bad is approaching them. Right after she learned of that, she quickly donned on her combat attire which is the same dress that she used after achieved her resolution. The proof that she has changed for the better.

"Arnold, I'm sorry but I need to act now". Alfin said before she jumps out of the window.

Watching things abruptly turned for the worse, Arnold also quickly get out of his bed and quickly formed his combat attire on him. It is plain simple for a Servant to recreate their clothes that it is the cheapest thing a Servant can spend their mana on. Suddenly, the mansion shook as he tried to get a hold on the situation and the room he is in started to collapse. Using the split second he has left, he jumped out of the room and burst through the door. The room then completely collapsed as he managed to escape at the last second.

Arnold stood up once again, he knew that the new enemy is going to be more unforgiving than before. Although he still haven't reached his resolution yet, he still going to fight with all he had.

Taking the sawn-off from the imaginary weapon racks that appeared beside him. He took out the sawn-off and aim at the wreckage ahead of him. The moment he pulled the trigger, a torrent of ballistics burst through the rubble and cleared the path for him.

Looking at the sky above, there are so many planes that he can't even count quickly at all. Wasn't their entire air force supposed to be crippled right now after Alice's devastation aura? But thinking back again, he never actually knew the actual size of Nazi's air force, what happened at the two nights before may have just been the vanguard and this is the actual army they are facing against.

Steeling his determination once again, rushing out towards the raining sky with the sawn-off in his hand. No one would be willing to head towards their execution but he nonetheless will face it to its very end.

* * *

_**Servants Profile**_

_**Class: Assassin**_

_True Name:__ Kiritsugu Emiya_

_Parameter:_

_Str: D | Agi: A+ | End: C | Mana: C | Luck: E | NP: B++_

_Passive Skills:_

_Presence Concealment A+: __Hides one's presence as a Servant. Suitable for spying. It is possible to disappear completely and become almost impossible to be detected, even against a Servant's perception. However, efficiency will decrease once preparations to attack are taken._

_Independent Action A: It is possible to take action even without a Master. However, to use Noble Phantasms of great magical energy consumption, backup from the Master is necessary. At Rank A, it is possible for a Servant to stay in the world for about a week without a Master._

_Personal Skills:_

_-Magecraft B: Capable of using magecraft. In return, because of having knowledge about magecraft, he is good at the art of killing magi, being notoriously known as the 'Magus Killer' back when he was alive. The ranking of this Skill primarily works as a bonus to his various checks when fighting against Casters._

**_=}(Strengthened_****_) Chronomaturgy B+_**

**_Using his inherited Emiya clan Time crest or to be exact, part of what remains. Kiritsugu can use Time Alter to boost one's performance and speed beyond what originally is. It can be applied to objects like bullets, guns, vehicles, and allies, but using Time Alter on allies or himself will cause time dilation which will begin to harm said Servant from inside due to enforced time flow recorrection. The higher the accelerating speed is, the deadlier the side effect. One can reduce the side effect by using passive healing Noble Phantasm._**

**_-_**_Affection of the Holy Grail A+:_

_He is being deeply loved by the Holy Grail from some era._

_Such love is just like the greatest curse in the world. _  
_Due to the existence of this Skill, his Luck Rank will be flipped up when activated. It is possible to even breakthrough the abilities of enemy Servants that cannot be overcome except in specific conditions._  
_However, this good fortune mercilessly steals the happiness of others._

**_=}(Strengthened_****_) Married Fate EX_**

**_Thanks to the FATE summoning system, the memories of his alternate past self have brought back what was lost to him. The ability to feel, the memories of being loved. He used to deny it at first but the memories were all too real that if he felt almost like his own, soon he came to accept it and became dedicated to the cause of Chaldea, to protect the world from any calamities that can destroy humanity itself. Like a hardened soldier returns home from his time in service to see his lovely family and being a father for his children, thanks to the acceptance of his newfound memory, this skill eventually changed as it allows a greater extent even if it's only by a slight margin and the demerit will be removed as long as his wife protecting him or nearby his vicinity._**

_-Scapegoat C:_

_This is the accumulation of cunning techniques designed to escape the battlefield in one piece._

**_=}(Strengthened_****_) Diversion Ambush A_**

**_A combination of all his cunning tactics and techniques in order to lure his enemies into his traps. If he managed to land a surprise attack or ambush, said attack will increase a full rank in strength, Noble Phantasm included._**

**_Noble Phantasm_**

_**|Chronos Rose**__**|  
Pick Ye Rose Bud While Ye May**_

_**Rank B+ **__**| Classification: Anti-Unit |**_

_"A rose that bloom today shall wither away tomorrow"_

_Chronos Rose.  
Time flows, and the flower that smiles today shall wither away completely tomorrow.  
The ability to manipulate one's own time flow.  
It uses the ability he had while alive "inherent time control (Time Alter)" as a basis._

_**|Phantasm Punishment**__**|  
Mystery Bisection  
**_

_**Rank C+ **__**| Classification: Anti-Unit |**_

_This weapon is a knife that has__ the double attribute of "_Severing and Binding_", __its power put into a knife and sublimated as a Noble Phantasm of the Counter Guardian. It is the same knife he uses for his usual time manipulation attacks, his Origin made form and the knife being the embodiment of it. It inflicts fatal damage towards enemies that possesses magic circuits and magic crests or anything similar inside their bodies. The ability is invoked according to its True Name release._

_**|Natalia|  
Blade of Severing**_

_**Rank B+| Classification Anti-Unit | Wise up!**_

_Named after the woman who raised the magus killer and considered as his mother figure, shot down by his own hands in an unfortunate mission._

_Natalia's power is the actualization of severing, or cutting something completely into two separate parts. So long as what it is cutting has a low enough magic resistance, it will be instantly bisected along the line of the blade the moment it makes contact regardless of whether or not it is finished swinging. Due to the curse imbued into it focus on destruction and corruption of humanity, anything living things or made by human hands are granted bonus effectiveness against it. In short, if it cuts a person or any manmade stuff, it will require a full rank higher in terms of magic resistance in order to avoid the actualization of severing of any part on their body._

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Class: Archer**_

_True Name:_ _Shirou Emiya_

_Parameter:_

_Str: D | __Agi: C | __End: C | __Mana: B | __Luck: E | __NP: ?_

_Passive Skills:_

_Magic Resistance D: This Servant is immune to any magic attack of rank D below_

_Independent Action B: Even if Emiya received fatal damage upon his spiritual core, he can still survive for a short time._

_Personal Skills:_

_-Eye of the Mind (True) B:_

_Insight cultivated from training and learning.  
The "logic of battle" to calmly grasp one's situation and the abilities of the enemy, and find out a mean of escape when in  
dilemma.  
If the possibility of a reversal is 1%, a chance can be pulled out by putting this strategy to practice.  
Something falsely similar to the skill Instinct._

**_=}(Strengthened) Seven Rings of Heaven (Near-absolute Defense) A+_**

**_A Noble Phantasm that Emiya got his hand on and capable of projecting said thing. A seven-layered Bounded Field with each layer as powerful as a fortress wall. It is shaped in the flower that blooms from Aias's blood upon his death. In order to keep the shield up, its user must provide it with magical energy to keep its form up. If a layer got destroyed, its user will also receive damage and pain in correspondence. Emiya usually uses it with a purpose to protect everyone around him._**

_-Clairvoyance C:_

_Can keeping track of fast-moving target within a range of four-kilometer. Emiya acquires this by applying Reinforcement to his eyes._

**_=}(Strengthened_****_) Hawkeye B+_**

**_Perfected combination and mastery of Advanced Structure Grasping and Clairvoyance, Emiya can easily find the enemy's weak points or openings. He can land multiple fatal blows or crippling strikes consecutively in quick succession by the uses of this skill in CQC combat._**

_-Magecraft C-_

_Capable of using orthodox thaumaturgy. Emiya can use Reinforcement to increase the essence of the tool he uses temporarily and Structure Grasping to grasp the structure of the substance including living beings. Most of other magecraft, if used by him, would just have dissatisfaction results against any other Servants._

**_=}(Strengthened) Projection A_**

**_Emiya has been using Reinforcement and Structure Grasping ever since he was young and do so repeatedly for 10 years with only those spells. Combined with "Sword" origin, he can near-perfect tracing and projecting blades, melee weapons and Noble Phantasm. Shields and other defensive measurements would cost more mana. Projection can only go so far if Emiya doesn't have the bond or understanding of its original wielder and rely completely on one sense. Without it, all NPs he traces would suffer a rank down._**

_**Noble Phantasm:**_

_**|Unlimited Blade Work|  
**__**Infinite Creation of Swords**_

_**Rank E-A++ | Classification: Reality Marble. Anti-Army |**_

_"I am the bone of my sword_  
_Steel is my body and fire is my blood_  
_I have created over a thousand blades_  
_Unknown to Death,_  
_Nor known to Life._  
_Have withstood pain to create many weapons_  
_Yet, those hands will never hold anything_  
_So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works."_

_Emiya has no true Noble Phantasm, but if a Noble Phantasm is what represents the entirety of the hero itself then this would be what he called his true Noble Phantasm. An open, barren desert with monolithic black gears gyrating in the distance, with thousands if not countless blades littering the landscapes, anchored to the grounds like a grave marker of an unknown battlefield, it was where his path as human life truly end as it forever etched in his mind. But after seeing the conviction of his younger self. He continues to walk this path even if there's no happiness to be found._

_The reality marble grants him ability project swords instantaneously and effortlessly and fires them as large barrages and allows him to be able to project Divine Construct but usually at the cost his life as it would drain all of his mana without the use of Command Seals. The reality marble has a large mana cost to maintain it from collapsing upon itself._

_**|Avalon|**_

_**Rank '?' | Classification: Regeneration?| Wise up?**_

_Due to the true NP wasn't activated but rather its secondary effect was used, the data regarding this NP was incomplete. Other than granting extreme regeneration when it came to close the proximity of Excalibur, nobody can tell what is the other use of it._


	16. Court of the Crimson King

**Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Chapter 16: Court of Crimson King**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

The rain still falls, the sounds of conflict evergoing. The sounds of water splashing from each step of his can be heard. But there is only one thing certain in his mind. He has to take down the mastermind while he still can.

"Azure Soldiers, inbound!" Arnold thought as he picks up the enemy's signal.

Taking out his sawn-off and getting into position, waiting for the enemy to approaches his location. The moment the chance is within his grasp, he quickly jumps into action and assesses the squad that he is about to fight.

"30 Azure Soldiers, accompanied by a Panzer. This should be quick." Arnold thought as he plans his next move.

The soldiers opened fire on him without hesitation, Arnold quickly fired his shotgun right at the two closest Azure Soldier and they soon get splattered into gore and blood clouds the moment the shotgun pellets reached them. Quickly reload the gun while evading the oncoming ballistics, he slowly whittles down their numbers one by one with one shell at a time.

The Panzers fired its cannon at him and he quickly jumped into one of the derelict buildings nearby, the shell's explosion shattered the entrance of the building he jumped into and blocked that way. The remaining soldiers quickly open fires on the building as each bullet easily pierces through the broken concrete.

"So you trying to corner me then, huh? I hope you are into bondage because this will be the last thing you ever felt!" Arnold said loudly within his mind but not saying it out loud for anyone to hear.

He quickly fired the grappling hook through the wall itself and that thing managed to latch onto the Panzer itself. He could felt the shaking of the chain as he could easily tell that the soldiers tried to shoot the chain off but since Adamantine can even resist a Servant's attack, what can a puny attack of an Azure Soldier amount to?

Quickly accelerating his speed as he quickly runs into the wall with a force that shatters it on impact and not even stopping him at all. He then utilizes the momentum he gained and quickly letting it do the rest of the task. The chain quickly moving along with where he was as it tore through the derelict buildings' wall effortlessly. He then burst through the wall while still holding onto the sawn-off. Spinning around the Panzer's position, the chain quickly caught onto the Azure Soldiers and tie them into the Panzer.

With just one round alone, he managed to bind all remaining Azure Soldiers into the Panzer although it is still trying to kill him. The next few rounds are him building up more momentum by running even faster and use it to bind the Panzer's armament from able to aim.

The moment he did so, he quickly slows down his speed until he reached a complete stop. With the Panzer and the rest of the Azure Soldiers bound into it, he begins to press the retract button so that the claw will try to retract back to him but the thing here it is buried within all of those chains and begins to squeeze those bound victim of his.

Think of a watermelon and you putting rubber bands on it. At first, it is alright. But once you keep putting more, the more force it will assert on the watermelon. Once you reach the breaking point, the watermelon will split into half. The same is applied to the Panzer and the soldiers tied into it. One thing will happen for sure is that he will have a bloody mess afterward.

The sheer force of the chain ripped the Panzer and the remaining Azure Soldiers in half and the moment it no longer binds anything, the grappling automatically retracted back to his sawn-off and a bloody mess made out of bisected bodies was left as the aftermath. Soon, they dissipated into azure ashes and gone with the wind itself.

"Good riddance..." Arnold thought as he decided what to do next.

The moment he thought he is safe, he heard something approaching him. He looked at the surroundings and saw fighter planes quickly pursuing his position. Arnold quickly jumped out of its way before it fires on him. After getting out of temporary danger, he knew that they would quickly return to hunt him down and he has to be prepared to do so.

Preparing his sawn-off and waited for the enemy's fire to come. His body tenses for any change in the atmosphere, or even airflow, he knew better to trust his instinct within any moment like this.

The sounds of gunfire approached, he quickly pushes all of his strength into his feet and jumped up as high as he can. Burst through the roof of the building, he could see the five fighter planes flying towards him. Even if they are driven by feral rage and killing intents, they sure did well for a pilot that is if he knows what is the qualification of a good pilot in the first place.

Quickly firing his grappling hook at the closest plane, the moment it latched onto something, he will let the grappling hook do the rest of its job. With the speed that the planes are approaching him, it is more correct to say that the plane struck the claw instead of the claw struck the plane. But nonetheless, it latched onto the plane and quickly drag him along with it.

Despite being WW2 fighter planes, those things were too fast by any standard. Reaching Mach speed easily without any visible percussion, those planes were enchanted to have far greater performance despite clearly incapable of doing so normally.

"Damn it... I... have... too-" Arnold tried to speak while gliding through the air at Mach 3.

He then pressed the secondary trigger so that he can pull himself towards the fighter plane. Just as the sawn-off pulling him towards it, something burst through the fighter, any planes nearby it also received that same fate. Within not even one second, the squadron was wiped out. Guess that when it comes to Servant in combat, anything done in more than a second is unsatisfactory.

Now freefalling 800 meters above the ground, Arnold tried to calm himself down first before getting onto anything. Clearing his mind up, he quickly focuses on that one verse of his poem. The same one that saved Alfin's life.

_Swore my vow that I heard the angels cry-_

And it seems that it is no longer necessary for him to chant the full verse anymore since even that one sentence from the beginning is enough to evoke that same angel wings from before. Slowly descending, the moment he reached the ground, the angel wings dissipated into nothing.

Seeing the surroundings, he met the familiar face from before and it seems that they have already gotten into combat already.

"Arnold, where were you this whole time? Although I find it more surprising that you actually managed to find us". Gudao said while he commanding his Servants to repel the Azure Soldiers.

"Considering that you just left me behind at the mansion without telling me, that's kind coming from you alone. Now, can you tell me what on this accursed earth is going on right now?!" Arnold said to Gudao

"While you two are still sleeping, Kiritsugu during his scouting of the area managed to pick up incoming signals of sorts. Seeing that there isn't going to be anything good with them, he decided to warn us in advance and we together laid out a plan to counter. But considering that the mastermind isn't willing to reveal themselves in front of us, the best option is to sieving down the possibility." Gudao said.

"Just in case you want to know, we have also brought Silbern with us and when the attack initiated, we sent it back right to where Alfin and you are. Guess that your appearance here means that you received the message, right?" Shirou said before he decapitates another Azure Soldier.

Arnold doesn't know what to say but nod. However, he finds that Alfin isn't here yet. It is either that he somehow outran her or she has a different idea of what to do compare to them.

"I hope that she isn't trying to pull out some Wunderwaffe that is capable of mass destruction. The P1500 is more than enough to bring down a nation to its own knee. Or in this case, it was Germany". Kiritsugu said.

That was a double meaning joke, the fact that Alfin used it against the Overwatcher which by technicality belongs to Nazi Germany and that weapon in history has also brought down the nation's economy with its sheer cost alone if built. But to Alfin, fallacy is nothing to her.

But what should they do now? With no lead in order to plan out for future passage, they are nothing but mice stuck in a maze. Arnold tried to jump to the top of a building nearby so that he can scout the area for any lead that might help him.

A large explosion went off in a distance, Arnold knew that there is only one meaning... Alfin is fighting something. By this point, he might as well associate explosions with her since she is the only Servant here using high explosives as attacks.

"Everyone! Head towards where the explosion occurred! Alfin is fighting against someone!" Arnold said to everyone below.

"You heard what he said, we need to move! Now!" Gudao commanded his Servants to follow his command.

Quickly mobilizing towards where the battle is happening, the Azure Soldiers also started to concentrate and mobilize to their path as if they are deliberately hindering their progress.

"Everyone! Don't hesitate to open fire on those abominations!" Gudao commanded his Servants to attack arbitrarily.

Both Shirou and Kuro traced their bow and quickly unleashes their hail of arrows on the approaching Azure Soldiers, each with a speed that outspeed the highest firing rate machine gun. To compare them like a storm is still very much understating. However, among those approaching soldiers, there are a few which are equipped with ballistic shields and blocking the arrows they are firing like nothing.

They formed an indomitable phalanx line and quickly advance towards them. Those heavily armored soldiers with each of them have one arm holding onto the shield while the other is a shotgun. One thing though... It is not what one would thought to belong in normal history. The shotgun is built entirely out of composite material with a closely more modern design. The triple rotary barrel replaced the conventional single barrel gun allowing it to achieve far greater firing rate, theoretically... That is until they started to pull the trigger.

As if the shotguns held in their hands are machine gun, a hailstorm of pellets soon followed and effortlessly deflected the hail of arrows that the siblings fired at the advancing Azure Soldiers. Shirou and Kiritsugu quickly realized the danger they are in and begin to chant in unison.

_Trace on! Time alter zeroth stagnant_

A wall of timeless blade formed ahead of them, the only use they have is that they withstood attacks that are otherwise too much for Servants alone to deflect, and they do it exceptionally well. With all of his allies behind it, they need to quickly devise a plan so that they can potentially breakthrough the phalanx.

"We need to do something about this now!" Shirou said to his Master.

Arnold thought while the deafening clashes between buckshot and blades clashing with each other. He started to think of a way to make it out of this situation. He made it out of an enemy-occupied trench alive, he believes that he could do the same in a situation like this. Thinking about all of the power of his allies he had right now, he decided to put his faith in this particular one.

"Kiri, can you apply time alter effect on this?" Arnold said as he shows the assassin a bundle of dynamites.

"What are you intending right now?" Kiritsugu asked.

"Just do it! Give it the highest modifier you can!" Arnold said to Kiritsugu.

Kiritsugu grunted before begrudgingly apply his _time alter _on the bundle of dynamite. Focusing his circuit and mana flows, he quickly enchanted it.

_time alter deci accel_

The bundle of dynamite suddenly become blurry as if the thing is moving in a different plane of reality. Arnold quickly connects the dynamite with a detonator and quickly threw it as hard as he could. Due to moving ten times faster than normal, the thing ended up moving faster than the Azure Soldiers' cognition and thus completely overlooked it.

"Now!" Arnold said as he pressed the detonator.

The blast also moved ten times faster and thus the force of knockback also multiplied by ten. Staying at such close proximity to the explosion without a doubt would disrupt the formation and giving him the time required to act. He quickly jumps out of the wall and it is just as he expected, the shielders are disrupted and disoriented from the blast. Quickly taking his chance, he used the underslung grappling hook shot and firing it towards the shield of the closest shielder.

The moment the claw latched onto it, he used all of his might in order to forcefully disarm the shielder and take it for himself. With the shield in his hand, the disrupted soldiers quickly turn their guns on him and relentlessly firing at him. Just at the last moment, he managed to shield himself with the shield he has taken for himself.

To be fair though, there are some really glaring holes in his plan. He is basically betting on which is more powerful, the shield or the gun? And fortunate enough for him, the shield outlasts everything else.

The opposing soldiers as if driven only by their feral rage alone, completely ignored everything else but to keep firing at him even if the shield doesn't even have a single dent from all their shots in the slightest. The rest of his allies who were hiding from behind the wall quickly giving him firing supports and taking out those Azure Soldiers while they are still focusing on Arnold.

"Caladbolg!" Both siblings chanted their arrows' name before letting it loose. With just some slight enchantment alone, they managed to pierce through the shield of those heavily armored soldiers. Impaling multiple of them and the backline like shishkebab, they didn't put enough mana to make it explode in impact but powerful enough to penetrate through their armor.

Kiritsugu takes out his T-Rex Hannibal rifle and while chanting the _time alter_ spell. The moment he pulled the trigger, the bullet pierced through multiple of them with ease and gutted them through the torso. That's just the sheer destructive power of just one bullet of his alone.

Pierce quickly jumped out and fired his Chimera's Stinger at the soldiers, the sheer firing rate shred through their ranks like nothing. Soon enough, they quickly divert their aggro towards Pierce and fired at him relentlessly. Normally, a Servant wouldn't be able to handle getting shot repeatedly like that but Pierce doesn't follow that norm.

His armor's strongest ability, Crisis Core. Now allowed him to completely nullified any attack that is kinetic based as long as he moves slowly or standstill. Bullets bouncing off like harmless confetti while Pierce is relentlessly firing his gun towards them. With the attention completely changed from Arnold to Pierce, he then realized that what he did was just reckless. Pierce could easily take them on, none of their attacks could dent his armor at all. Pierce could easily whip out his Desperado to deal with the shielders swiftly if he wanted to. They would break through this blockade eventually anyway...

But looking at the chaos unfolding from the distance, beyond the ceaseless stream of Azure Soldiers pouring in. He noticed that the conflict between Alfin and anything that she might be fighting against right now can only intensify more and more. He realized that time isn't with his side and thus he decided to use his ace, now.

Quickly swapping the barrel of his sawn-off for the high-caliber version. With the Blasphemy placed in, he took out the 4 gauge shells in his back pouch. The sheer radiating power of it alone is tremendous that Pierce could felt it but not willing to say it out loud. Loading them into the Blasphemy, he discards the shield and aims that thing with only one hand towards the blockade in front of him.

"Out of my way..." Arnold said with a determined voice.

He then pulled the trigger and the torrent of ballistics shred through the Azure Soldiers like nothing. Not even the shield of those heavy soldiers are able to withstand the sheer firing power of the Blasphemy. Think of a blast created by an artillery shell fired from the Big Bertha, and then multiply it by a few hundred and you will get what happened to what you saw in front of you. Complete annihilation.

Pierce who stood nearby him can't fathom what just happened right in front of him, all of it was too sudden. The whole battalion of Azure Soldiers was suddenly wiped away like nothing, the only remaining trace one can even fathom is the lingering azure ashes in the air.

Arnold still held onto the Blasphemy, with a stern eye look to the front. Despite not showing it, he wanted to wince from the sheer pain his wrist being suffered from firing such a thing like that one-handed.

"Arnold! Are you alright?" Desmond approached Arnold while trying to check his wrist for anything wrong.

Arnold can't try to hide it at all and thus just let the medic sees what happened. His wrist completely bruised and dislocated from trying to firing it one-handed, it is a miracle that his hand didn't fly off already.

"Dear Lord, let me treat you quickly.". Desmond said as he takes out anesthetic and injects it into Arnold's hand and then relocates it back to where it is supposed to be, he then bandages it carefully and that is when Desmond called it done.

"Uhm, don't you think you should splint it up?" Arnold asked.

"This medical gears of mine are blessed by the Lord, you will heal much quicker than you can imagine and you will forget that you were injured from the first place.". Desmond said to Arnold.

Arnold doesn't know what to say about it but if it works then he will not question it any further. He then quickly puts his stamina into his feet and quickly moving towards where he believes is where Alfin is right now. Everyone then quickly follows him and ensure nothing could stand in their path once again.

As the sounds of chaos started to become even louder as he approached where the battle is taking place, he worries about Alfin's wellbeing that he can't afford to waste another second on trivial stuff. Pushing his feet to the limit, he tried to cut down the distance as fast as possible. But something inside him started to scream, something bad is going to happen and-

_Trace Overedge!_

Shirou chanted the spell on his twin blades and they became the wings that deflected a bullet that would otherwise burst into his head at cleanly, too fast that he can't otherwise perceive in time. The red bowman managed to pick up something and quickly deflected said attack right at a moment notice. The wings then shattered like glass as it dissipates into thin air.

"Are you alright?!" Shirou said to Arnold.

Arnold swore that he skipped a heartbeat just now. He wanted to thank Shirou for saving his life just now but he simply giving a nod before keep proceeding ahead. While everyone keeps following Arnold, Larry's expression became furrowed, he knew there is only one person with such a familiar attack like that. As if being pissed off is the only emotion he knew, he mumbled beneath his breath.

_"That shit-eating little shit..." _Larry said beneath his breath.

Soon, Arnold managed to make it the scene of the battle. Needless to say though, everything is completely ruined around here except for the combatants in it. It was just how he though, Alfin got caught into combat against someone. A man wore WW2 German soldier attire with a standard issued hat that might remain with him since the beginning of WW2 itself. Wearing body armor and gauntlet for some protection. The guy has short, dark and unkempt hair with some spike shooting outwards in parts of his bang. Has a muscular like body with a handsome face and seems to be at his prime of 19.

The assault rifle in his hands is definitely not belong to the current timeline at all. It is no wonder that the calculation for the Lost Depth of this place is on par of Lostbelt. The history here was too significantly altered that stuff like this shouldn't remotely exist. Forged in entirely composite materials and black steel with the design might have taken and evolved directly from the Stg44. The stock of the gun has a spare magazine in it for emergency reload and storage, the underslung launcher of unknown use with foregrip that he can't decipher just yet. A sniping scope installed on top of this gun with a chain pendant of sorts warped around it, he could tell its magnification level can be changed depends on the situation.

A weapon that was heavily customized to the point that it is considered overkill but considering the man is radiating Spirit Origin signal, he could safely ascertain that it is a Servant that she is fighting against but who exactly and what was he famous for exactly?

"Your next line is "I will fucking pulverize your corpse into ash and use it as gunpowder!"." The opposing Servant said to Alfin confidently as if he could tell what she is thinking at a moment notice.

"I will fucking pulverize your corpse into ash and use it as gunpowder!" Alfin yelled with such a wrathful voice that it would instill dread in anyone who heard it.

However, the moment she realized that the opposing Servant guessed what Alfin is going to say correctly words by words, she became hesitant for a brief moment. Taking advantage of it, the opposing Servant quickly pulled a whirlwind kick right into Alfin's face and the sheer force knocked her straight into a building and broke through multiple buildings in the process.

Arnold can't help but wince in grimaces at that kick, but it is suddenly interrupted when he felt something is looking at him intently. Within that brief moment, he evaded the bullet moving at him at the speed of Mach 75 while quickly getting his T-Gewehr out in the evading process. When he managed to situate himself at the crouch position at the end of his evading procedure, he fired it at where he suspected is where the sniper most likely is.

Just like what he expected, the moment he fired the T-Gewehr, the marksman jumped out of the building before the bullet tore what is remained of it. The marksman then rolls on the ground in order to dissipate kinetic force evenly although said force won't even be enough to harm him either way.

The duo stands in front of the Chaldean Servants, despite being seemingly outnumbered, they show no signs of fear at all. It was as if they are still having the situation under their control.

"So, these are our troublemakers who make our jobs a living hell. I hope all of you proud of what you have done so far." The SS Archer said to the Chaldean with a shit-eating grin. Seeing it would easily make anyone feel irritated in an instant.

"Guess that the clash between us inevitable, huh? Not that I am surprised considering what all of you did before reaching here." The SS Assault follows up.

"Quit it already, we outnumbered you by 5 times. If you have a death wish then go ahead and fight us." Kiritsugu said irritatedly.

"Oh, we will fight alright, just that we make this a fair game, with everything at our disposal." The SS Archer said mockingly before he snaps his finger.

Azure Soldiers quickly flooded into this place from all directions, ranging from all kinds of possible equipment that fills in different roles in a tight-knitted army. Realized that the duo in front of them planned all of this so that they will surround everyone here and take out in one fell swoop. And while the Azure Soldiers still mobilizing to this place, Alfin walked out of the building that she crashed headfirst in. Coming out with an extremely irritated expression, when she get nearby everyone else, the Azure Soldiers completely blockade this whole area.

The riot shotgunner completely surrounded them, and behind are many more soldiers armed to teeth with machine guns. Like waiting for their execution, the air started to become significantly tenser the longer things stood this way.

"Damn it, I didn't detect their signal at all.". Kiritsugu thought as their sudden appearance is unusual.

"Anyway, if all of you somehow managed to break through this blockade then you shall then have the right chase after us. If you can in the first place, see ya! Runaway!" The SS Assault said before he jumped to the roof of a closeby building then running along with the rooftop of other buildings.

The SS Archer sighed before he also follows the SS Assault, leaving the Chaldean up to their fate.

With the Azure Soldiers encircled them, they can't act rashly or they will be riddled with bullets before they could act. But there is one thing that completely overtaken the sheer tension is Alfin's bottled up wrath till now. She took another step and the Azure Soldiers quickly raised their guns and aim at the Chaldean.

Even at gunpoint, it doesn't change the fact that she is pissed, another step is taken and the Azure Soldiers started to relentlessly fire at the Chaldean without any second conscience. They thought that the end has reached them but it never came.

All of those ballistics stuck in the air surrounding the Chaldeans as if something forced to be that way. The Azure Soldiers keep firing at her thinking that she just extremely resilient but not knowing that their shots didn't even reach her.

Her eyes changed to the color of ember, the palm that she pushes forward is completely ablaze. Arnold only sees such a side of her like this twice and that was a long time ago but now everyone is seeing that other side of her, the truly determined part of her that only during the greatest of crisis that she would evoke.

The ballistics around them started to set ablaze in flame and they turned into molten metal that it would completely corrode through anything in its way. She then redirects them toward anywhere else but her and any ballistics get caught into that wall of flame also became part of it.

_Begone_

The moment she uttered it, the blazing wall surrounding the Chaldean quickly blast towards the encirclement like a fragmentation bomb that just detonated. The molten bullets easily blast through the armor of all of those Azure Soldiers like nothing as the encirclement started to rupture from that moment.

Soon, the only thing surrounding them are just azure ash. They were in peril just second ago and now there is literally nothing left between their path. They already know that Alfin is capable of reflecting all ballistic attacks as if they were her but to know that she could do something like this if she wanted to then why did she got her ass handed to her just now?

Alfin's eye returned to that hazy blue color, her anger is gone too and then she calmly answered.

"The guy ambushed me and I got my ass handed to me in CQC combat. You know that I am actually not that agile when it comes to close-quarter combat like this so forgive me that I got all of you into this trouble, okay?" Alfin said sincerely.

That part is true, her true power lies on heavy firepower from her guns but what good does it have when she can't even throw a proper punch? The moment any enemy got close to her, she is pretty much in deep trouble. Because of this, Arnold decided on one best decision he has right now.

"Alfin, why don't you come with me in our pursuit for them. My speed should make it easy to pursue them while your firepower will allow nothing on our way can stop us. What do you think?" Arnold said to Alfin.

Alfin tried to process what Arnold just said. After she gets what he tried to say, she spent no second nor hesitation to agree with him.

"Thanks. I shall follow you then". Alfin said to Arnold.

Arnold then looks toward the direction that the enemy duo moved and then jumped in that path. Alfin followed the suit and following him. The rest of the Chaldean just now wondering what on earth just happened a few seconds ago.

"Should we follow him, Master?" Shirou asked his Master.

"OF COURSE WE ARE! Why are we just stand here and do nothing? Follow him, now-" Before Gudao completed his sentence, he got cut off the moment he noticed something flying towards them.

"It is a ballistic missile! Fall back, now!" Pierce said the moment he discerned it.

The rest got no choice but to get away from where the missile might land, it could be the same one that created the massive crater back in the fight against Desert Fox. But something about it doesn't feel right at all like there is something misplaced about it.

The thing impaled into the ground but that is all of what it did, nothing. There's nothing happened at all. Shirou carefully approaching it in case it is a slow-timed bomb that can create a huge catastrophe. Using his Hawkeyes, he analyzed it carefully for any potential danger inside.

"Huh? There's... no payload at all...". Shirou said as he finds it strange for a missile with no payload.

But on further checking, he realized that it contains something else, a tank of... condensed air? He tried to analyze the air tank inside until he realized the air density inside. The missile is not intended to blow up but in fact, it will create a massive gust that would blow everyone away and separate them from each other.

"Everyone! Fall back! Now!" Shirou tried to warn everyone else but the missile has activated the moment the words came out of his mouth.

A massive gust was created and it pushed everyone nearby into the sky as if they were paper. But the thread of fate binding each other is still strong enough to prevent everyone from being split up individually but rather that there might be a chance for it to be in groups.

From this point onward, every split up individual will be facing up a trial to prove that there might be still a chance for them. Because after all, to survive the final destination at their end, they will have to prove themselves that not even towering enemies can defeat them.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Nine Lives**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

"Waah!" Illya screamed as she was tossed into the air with an altitude of 1000 meters and separated from her family, she can't even recognize where she actually is.

Using her magical girl power, she landed safely on the ground but the idea that she is completely separated from her family unsettled her. Being alone while facing up an army as large as a tidal wave is completely horrifying to her even if she can overpower them with some efforts.

"Wah... What to do now?" Illya said to herself as the only sounds of rain completely makes her felt unnerved.

And then she heard something, the sounds of helicopters approaching her location. That is what she found truly strange. Even if helicopters existed as some form in WW2, they are heavily combat-inapplicable. But considering things have changed drastically, she can't really vouch on that fact anymore.

And she was right to think so, even in the hazy fog and obstructing rain, the monstrous size of what is being carried by multiple Chinook helicopters despite not supposed to exist in this timeframe are approaching her. The thing is then suddenly dropped into the ground and the fleet proceeds to move away from the location.

"Wah! What is that!?" Illya said as fears started to overtake her.

With a towering size over 30 meters, bipedal and what looks like 'wings' hanged by its side. The jet black color is hardly mistaken in a gray rain of bleak and hopeless and the everlasting thunders. And when she thought things just can't get any worse, its eye lighted up signifies its activation.

"Eh?" Illya said as she gasps in horror.

It would have been one thing if it is large and slow but this thing doesn't follow any trope in stuff and shit. It rushes towards her as if it wanted to eat her alive. As if it wanted to devour her own soul and feed it to the already bloody tainted void in itself.

Illya steeled her conviction, she knew that being panic and scared won't save her in a time like this. If the only person who can save her is herself then she better get over it and does what she must. She is a Heroic Spirit, the one who managed to reach the realm of heroes and can proudly call herself so. Why does she being such a scaredy-cat right now?

"Fine! If that is how you wanted it then I shall make you regret your own existence!" Illya yelled at the charging humungous mechanoid.

Quickly jump into action, Illya quickly evaded the first attack of the mechanoid itself. She quickly examined the thing as fast as she could. Bipedal, back-mounted missile clusters launcher, 'wing'-mounted autocannons and a long tail connected to it, that is what she could examine at the brief moment and it might have a lot more tricks in the bag.

Quickly using her Cheerful-type Mystic Code, she fired multiple beams of prana at it but it doesn't seem to do any proper damage against it.

"Of course that it would be able to block those puny attacks of mine. But if that is the case then I need to make an even stronger attack!" Illya said as she keeps the distance between her and the mechanoid.

Whenever she laid eyes on that mechanoid, she can't help but remember the fight against the same mechanoid that the Desert Fox rode in. The parallel is undeniable that she decided to dub it as 'Metal Gear' even if the appearance isn't the same.

With prana charging up at the top her stick, it soon took the form of a comet. She then pushes all her strength into the stick and prepared to fire the concentrated prana at the Metal Gear.

"Stardust Comet!" Illya yelled as she threw the prana comet right at what she assumed is the head of the Metal Gear.

The comet blitz through the rain and struck the head of the Metal Gear with a loud impact that managed to knock it back by some distance, what remain of the attack itself is the pink-tinted residual from what is left of the comet itself. The attack did work if the huge dent on the head is any indication but it only serves to enrage the Metal Gear even further.

The thing activated its left 'wing' and turns out, it is a huge missile battery. It begins to fire them relentlessly at Illya as if it wanted her dead now. With the hail of missiles flying towards Illya, she can't help but yell in panic as she tried to avoid the missiles from hitting her.

Skillfully threading through the gap of attacks, she managed to avoid the missiles from hitting her but it wasn't just that either. It started to charge something if the aura of energy forming around the head is any indication.

"Wuh? What is it trying to do-" Illya tried to say before she realized what it tried to do.

A massive beam of plasma fired towards her, she begins to startle in panic and tried to evade the attack as soon as she can. Thank God that her instinct acts faster than her voice because that would have been an otherwise fatality. The Metal Gear fired that beam for multiple times as Illya avoid them all after learning the attack first hand.

"Damn it, this thing won't let me have any chance to charge up my attack. But I can't use any other non-charged attacks since the Metal Gear's armor won't allow any of it to harm it." Illya thought as she tried to find a different solution to this crap right now.

And then an idea flashed in her mind, there is one trusty weapon that managed to make serious damage on those armored mechanoids if she remembered correctly.

"That's it! But I don't know if it works or not-" Illya said as she keeps the distance between her and it as started to fire its autocannons at her.

If one tried to bet that she can deflect them with her Mystic Code, tell them that they are so stupid that they have negative intelligence. That thing even if it can deflect one shot can't possibly tough enough to brave another.

"Berserker! Include!" Illya yelled that knowing that there is no other choice, she quickly formed the stone sword-axe that her caretaker Heracles used.

Using it to block the incoming bullets, she braced for whatever impact might happen. But surprisingly, it actually worked well as a shield for not a single bullet managed to make a dent on the sword-axe. Taking advantage of this newfound knowledge, she quickly charges toward the Metal Gear with all her might.

The moment she got into the blind-zone of the autocannons, she pulled an overhead smash with the sword-axe into the head of the Metal Gear with all her strength behinds. In the next second, an earth-shattering blow was sent straight into the head of the Metal Gear with such a force that the armor plate on its head shattered on impact.

The thing screamed as it received such a powerful blow like that to the point that Illya has to instinctively pull back in order to avoid having her eardrums ruptured. But after she learned that there is a way to take the Metal Gear down, she decided to bet on one gambit alone. The Berserker Class Card that she has with her since day one.

Channeling her mana into it, she quickly chanted one spell in order to bring her caretaker's power into her and borrows it for this fight.

_Berserker! Install!_

The Berserker whom she has in mind is Heracles, the legendary Greek hero who completed the Twelve Labors, his feats were renowned far and wide even to the modern age. Even if he is a Berserker right now and having his speech heavily impaired, he still having your back no matter what.

The blinding light shrouds her as the power of the Class Card drawn into her. Invigorate with newfound power, her appearance altered. Now with the power of Heracles flowing in her, her strength alone would sunder the earth itself.

With a rage that would surpass a hurricane yet with a gentleness of a soft feather, the berserker's madness never allows the very little girl whom he took care for so long to suffer and blinded with his rage. A purposed soul is a weapon that makes a person carries themselves with greatness without letting madness blinding themselves into self-destruction.

"Here I come, do you have enough ballistics in stock?" Illya said as she charges forward to the Metal Gear.

The Metal Gear once again yelled with an ear-piercing scream, as it unleashes its arsenal on her. The autocannons fired at her like a stream of a restless river but the sword-axe that she used to cover herself easily blocked them all.

The missiles were fired but she easily ran past them and even slashing them down with her weapon, soon enough she started to get really close to it and it decided to think that it is a good idea to headbutt her. Foreseen its action, she quickly prepared her stance and the thing charged at her like a mad bull.

However, you never underestimate the strength of Heracles, no matter what. With his strength at her disposal, she parried the attack as if it was nothing and the thing got staggered just by doing so. Right when it is still being staggered, she quickly jumped to its head and then put all of the strength she has into that smash.

The sickening sounds of metal smashing were soon followed, that attack would have been a straight-up killing blow yet the head is somehow intact although heavily damaged. It screams in agony and quickly jumped away across the city blocks to get away from her.

Illya quickly realized its attack pattern and begins to adapt to whatever it might do. She keeps pursuing it as she acts according to whatever it fires at her. Covering her face with her weapon if it uses the autocannons, slashing her way through the missiles if that is what it intends to use against her.

However, there is virtually no way for her to counter against the plasma beam it might fires when she got closer to it but thanks to the fact that she heavily damaged its head to the point it can't even use the plasma cannon for more than 5 seconds. It does a few sweeps before it just started to sizzling from overheat. Illya then quickly once again reaching its blind-spot where none of its weapons can reach her properly. Right at that moment, the Metal Gear started to spin itself around tried to whip her with its own tail.

But once again, her ability is too great for such a flimsy attack like that. Without even focus, she parried it perfectly in time and staggered it briefly in the process. Taking advantage of it, she jumped and slashed it as quickly as she could despite the heavyweight of her weapon. Within that brief 2 seconds, she slashed away the Metal Gear's tail to the point it can't even reach the ground anymore.

It yelled in pain when suddenly loses its tail like that, to think that someone actually decided to program the thing to yell in the first place completely baffled her but that doesn't matter when her only task is to take the thing down as fast she could. It once again jumped away from her in the opposite direction to where she was looking.

This battle is a test of mental endurance, as long as she can act accordingly and perfectly, she won't be having much trouble against it. But one minor mistake and it will cost her dear life. She will have to keep a level-headed mind if she wanted to make out of here alive.

Illya once again charging towards the Metal Gear with everything she has. Well, you will realize that there isn't much to describe when your enemy only has three ranged attacks and it is always on constant cycle with virtually no change at all. Effortlessly reaching the Metal Gear once again, she slashes its feet with her weapon repeatedly and tries to destroy it as fast as she could whether with her sword-axe and or by kicking directly at it.

The Metal Gear then pulled its left foot up as if trying to stomp her as flat as paper, she realized what it is trying to do and thus prepared for the impact and put up her stance properly. It came down really fast but not fast enough to outwit her. She parried even the stomp in time and makes it stumble, taking this advantage once again, she prepared an overhead smash and jump towards its 'thigh' and smashed it with all she has.

The sound of sickening impact followed as the left leg of the Metal Gear became heavily damaged from that smash alone. The thing yelled loudly and then jumped away from her once again, but the moment it tried to land, the crippled leg makes it stumble and unable to land properly on its two feet and thus it is forced to waste its precious time trying to stand properly.

Taking this advantage to her once again, she rushes through the battlefield between them with virtually nothing to hinder her. The moment the Metal Gear is able to stand up properly, Illya has already reached near it. She keeps lashing out against the feet of the Metal Gear as it started to become torn apart from the slashes she did on it.

The Metal Gear tried to stomp on her again but when it did so, Illya parried effortlessly. Something within the Metal Gear might have become broken and thus just act completely irrational like this, not that she won't take advantage of it either way. Pulling another earth-shattering blow, she broke the right leg of the Metal Gear with a sickening strike that it even makes the soul of others shiver at just the sound alone.

The thing screamed loudly that it overwhelms the rain splatter itself, seeing no other alternative remain, the Metal Gear activated its right 'wing' and it turns out to be a foldable thermal edge. It then jumped away in one final ditch despite having both legs crippled to get away from her. Illya then continues her pursuit and quickly rushes toward the Metal Gear.

The Metal Gear swung its thermal blade and Illya blocked it with Heracles's sword-axe. Sparks flying everywhere from the moment she clashed as both of them push all their power into their weapons. Illya's vast strength that she borrowed from Heracles allowed her to push even more of it than how she normally thought. She then pushes the thermal blade away with all her strength so that she can advance towards it once more although the Metal Gear swung it back as soon as she took a step.

Decided to finish this all up, she instead grabbing the whole thermal blade itself. With her one hand, it held onto the blunt part and the sword to brace for the thermal edge. Channeling all the strength of the legendary hero into her, she let out a heartfelt cry as she started to lift the entirety of the Metal Gear up from the thermal edge and throw it over her shoulder into a height of 20 meters.

She then jumps onto the blade of the Metal Gear while it is still in midair and slashes the thermal edge itself with Heracles's sword-axe repeatedly while running across it. When she finally reached the joint that connects the right 'wing' and the Metal Gear itself, she made a final jump and dived straight into it. In the next second, she severed the wing itself as the impact soared its shockwave across a vast distance.

The Metal Gear then smackdown into the ground with its severed wing exploded due to energy discharge. Illya triumphantly landed on her two feet as the Metal Gear motionlessly on the ground. Soon, only the wind and the rain remains of the aftermath.

"Dear God, that thing is finally dead. Guess I could take dispel the Class Card now, I guess?" Illya said as she tried to disengage the Class Card she is using.

However, before she did so. Something inside her is screaming as if Heracles is warning about something. She can even hear his roar trying to tell her not to disengage now. Hearing the scream from within, she turned back towards the wreckage of the Metal Gear and then suddenly, its eyes started to flash up. It lunged towards her and before she could do anything, she suddenly got clamped between its jaw and unable to move.

"Berserker! Include!" Illya said as she tried to break through its grasp by breaking the jaw that is clamping her with the sword-axe.

Within one strike, the thing then tossed her away by a huge distance and she helplessly tried to stop her flight but to no prevail. She then collides with a building and still pierced through it and then landed on the ground. The Metal Gear has also pursued and jumped straight to her location despite only having its crippled legs. And guessed how it started the battle? A hail of missiles, a fucking hail of missiles that is.

Illya stood on her two feet, this time she is pissed. She has enough of this Metal Gear making her life even worse than a hellhole. This time, she will destroy it once and for all. Preparing the humongous stone sword-axe again with her stance ready, the Metal Gear roared and quickly fired the plasma cannon installed within its mouth and sweep the ground in front of it. Due to both of its legs crippled, it can't remain in a straight posture but rather aiming down to the ground.

Such a simple attack pattern like it can be dodged rather easily, just that fuck up that jump alone would cost dearly. Illya then quickly timed her jump so that she can avoid being hit by the plasma beam. Thankfully due to the initial damage, the thing can't fire the plasma cannon for long before have to quickly disengage or the thing will blow up due to overheating.

The moment her chance comes, she quickly swung her sword-axe repeatedly into the Metal Gear's face. The armor platings shatter apart with each hit of her into brittle scraps, the damage started to accumulate quickly as its internal working and sensors started to become heavily damaged to the point that it is visually impaired.

Within that one desperate attempt, it tried to headbutt her but sometimes one really should draw the line between practical and desperate because it just nailed its coffin with that attack. Illya parried that attack decisively as it staggered and she then pull a spin smash into the head of the Metal Gear. Right the moment of impact, the head got shattered to the point its plasma core is visible. Realized the possibility of defeat, it then jumped to the back and unleashes the rest of the missiles at her in the last-ditch attempt.

The amount of missiles being fired at her is staggering but she let none of it stop her from what she intended to do. Focus her mind and letting her inner spirit finding tranquility, she then quickly dashes towards it and then hopscotched from each missile to missile without fail. The Metal Gear not realizing that it is in fact bridging her path towards its destruction and before it could process anything, she has already reached it.

The perfect chance for her has come as she left towards the left 'wing' of the Metal Gear, raising her weapon and reached for the Noble Phantasm of Heracles himself. She will put an end to this with one decisive technique devised by Heracles himself during the lengthy battle against Hydra. This technique is, in fact, applicable to every weapon but its best is when used with a bow. But to her, even this primitive weapon alone would already fulfill its job no matter what.

_Nine Lives, Shooting Hundred Heads. _An all-purpose Noble Phantasm capable of adapting and changing how it appears depending on the target and the circumstances of its use. This technique is made as an ultimate counter against an enemy that resurrects no matter how many times it was killed and by exterminating as many times as it took no matter how they resurrect.

"NINE LIVES!" Illya chanted the name of the Noble Phantasm as she swung her weapon with the full might of the hero she called to.

Nine swift slashes that are so fast and consecutive that it is seen to be overlapping. In a mere instant alone, she pulled his Noble Phantasm and managed to use it for herself. The Metal Gear at the receiving end can't handle the power that is being discharged at and the entirety of the armor plating on it shattered to the point revealing the internal mechanism and wirings, bare frame, the left 'wing' got severed in an instant and gone to who knows where. It then collapses into the ground and became motionless afterward.

Illya still not convinced that the thing is dead and still drawing her weapon. Prepared for anything it might pull on her as she gets closer to it, she will slash this thing down to the very core if it is still indeed alive. Just when she lowered her guard slightly when enough time passed, the broken Metal Gear suddenly lunged at her again and tried to clamp her at what is left of its jaw. Illya due to being too close to it and thus once again got stuck in its jaw but due to her natural defense alone with the Class Card and the Metal Gear is running on fume and what is left of it. It just seems that Illya could easily break through its grasp anytime.

Illya strikes the jaw once and the thing then threw her into a tall building that was closeby. Illya braced for the impact so that she won't just penetrate through the building like cardboard boxes and instead stop the moment she impacted on the wall. With the Metal Gear on its last leg, it begins to fire whatever has left on its arsenal in which case, the back cluster missiles, and the nearly-broken plasma cannon.

"So this is what you wanted then I hope you can only found peace in oblivion!" Illya said as she quickly gets out of the crater and quickly runs vertically down the building. The Metal Gear slowly moved towards the building she is running down while unleashing anything it has left on her. With the building that she is running down on crumbling from the missiles and plasma beam being unloaded towards her. The moment she reached near the ground, she puts all of her strength into the feet and leaped straight towards the broken Metal Gear at godspeed.

Prepared her weapon, she puts all of the strength she has from her caretaker into the blade, she will use Nine Lives to its full potential and power so that she will ensure the destruction of the Metal Gear for once and for all.

_**Nine Lives!**_

She swung her weapon the moment its range reached the Metal Gear. It wasn't just nine slashes but it started to exceed more and more, ten, thirty, sixty, more... She slashed the Metal Gear, one hundred times within a single breath of her. All of it was so fast that it overlaps with each other. The moment she phased through the Metal Gear, she quickly braced the ground with her two feet and her left arm. The right arm still held onto the sword-axe and won't let go.

The Metal Gear from behind her crumbled to nothing, the hundred-slashes of her basically annihilated it into oblivion. Soon, it is gone with then everything became unnervingly silent with the rain itself.

The Class Card then disengaged and she returned to the appearance of a magical girl, the card is now in her hand again and always there for her should she need its help. She looked around her, hoping that there is someone will come out to say that thank god that she is fine but... it is still that same sounds of rain, nothing has changed at all.

All around her is unfamiliar sight, she doesn't even know where she is, she can't communicate with anyone since they are all got separated. She falls to her knee with a rolling tear in her eyes. She felt powerless, she only wanted her family but even that still taken away from her.

"I won, but... what now?" Illya said.

She still kneels there but she doesn't pity herself anymore, she instead prays for her family's safety, even if they won't see or heard it. She just hopes that her words will somehow reach them even in the rain of colorless future.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Destiny Severing**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

**Meanwhile at Kiritsugu and Irisviel**

"Honey!" Iri said as she still held onto her husband tightly even when both of them flying through the air.

"Don't worry! I'll handle this!" Kiritsugu said as he quickly takes out something from his back.

He quickly takes out a parachute bag which somehow materialized in thin air. Decided to spend no more second wasting at trivial stuff, he quickly pulled the parachute and soon their flight through the air is halted. Kiritsugu looked around for anyone but he got blown away from everyone for too far that he can't really discern anything at all.

Like entering uncharted areas, he can't even make the simplest guess of where both of them are. It is still the same city but definitely not where he scouted, the fog around here makes his vision severely impaired although he can still make out the surroundings even if slightly.

Both of them landed and it is on the top of a building. He steps to the edge and looked down to discern the height but he just can't see the bottom ground at all. Hell, they might have landed on top of the tallest building around here.

"Kerry? I think we landed on something that does definitely not belong to the proper timeframe here." Iri said as she realized the symbol on the rooftop of the building.

Kiritsugu walks toward his wife and sees what she tried to get at. One big white 'H' and a large circle around it, he realized what it can only mean. Helicopter port...

Helicopters indeed exist even during WW2 but they are usually too unreliable for the battlefield at the time. Kiritsugu can even tell that this port is at pristine conditions and shows signs of being used at a time then it can only mean one thing.

Out of all of the places they could land, it is fucking enemy's territory. Kiritsugu quickly realized this and begins to act according to what he hypothesizes could happen.

"Iri, get close to me, now!" Kiritsugu said to his wife.

Irisviel obliged without asking anything, she knew what her husband meant when he told her to get near him. Quickly held onto Kiritsugu from his back and as tightly as she could, the heavenly embrace of her soothes away his mental stress and allowed Kiritsugu to attain greater focus and awareness of surroundings. Plus, it negates one of the most critical demerits in his skill. The Luck leeching aspect that would have otherwise killed the others at for the success of his mission.

The sounds of rotors spinning can be heard, Kiritsugu quickly looked around for anything that is creating that sounds until he realized just how deafening it started to become. It wasn't just one helicopter, it was... a large fleet of them coming to this location. Kiritsugu quickly takes out his WA2k rifle with its thermal sight on. He looked through the scope for anything peculiar and he is right, a Chinook helicopter is approaching his position and it seems to carry something along with it.

He whips out a Stinger rocket launcher and quickly fired towards the Chinook helicopter, hoping that it would ditch away whatever horror it might be going to bring. But he was too hopeful as the missile suddenly collided with something surrounding the Chinook helicopter. A force field... of course... of course that they would take that into account.

Now it has reached above his location, it then dropped the container that it carried all along right above him. Kiritsugu avoided getting squashed by that container but what truly unnerve him isn't what just happened just now but rather, the content inside it. The dreading aura it gives off, he knew something like this can only go so well...

_Thud! Thud!_

The sounds of something punching the container with so much force that it dented the wall itself. Kiritsugu takes out 'Natalia' and prepared for whatever may come. Irisviel begins to chant her Noble Phantasm preemptively so that she can make sure that both her and her husband will at least survive a fatal blow if unexpected events happened.

The container broke open like a claymore mine detonating and Kiritsugu blocked all the fragments that threatened to harm him and his wife. The inside... is an android. Kiritsugu squinted so that he can try to assess more from just its shadowy figure alone. Its eye then quickly flashed as if signifying its activation and it then raised its two blades with one in its two arms.

"So an android imitating swordsman, huh?" Kiritsugu said as he looked at the android ahead of him.

And when he thought he knew what it truly is, the android in front of him raised more of its arms behind each other as if it was Buddha. In each hand is a blade and there are eight of those arms.

"Oh, you fucking kidding me!?" Kiritsugu cursed at the android when it raised its eight blades against him.

And when Kiritsugu thought things couldn't get worse, its blade begins to electrify and as electric currents started to run within it. Realized that the opponent that he is going to fight is a monstrosity of its own kind. Having no choice left, steeling his determination once again, he raised his own blade against it.

_**Words of God:** _ _**For this part, play DESTINY - Yakuza 6**_

"So you want a fight then, hope you will reflect that on yourself, in pieces!" Kiritsugu said before quickly jumps into combat.

The eight-armed android then also approaches him menacingly and then it quickly rushes toward Kiritsugu with the rocket-propelled muzzle installed on its back. When the thing is approaching Kiritsugu at high-hypersonic speed, he quickly blocked what would have been an 8-simultaneously slash with his blade alone. When all of those blades landed on Natalia, Kiritsugu gathered all of his strength into the blade and quickly pushed away all eight blades at the same time resulting in the android become staggered. Taking that sheer moment that would have lasted half a second alone into his advantage, he chanted.

_time alter nona accel_

Time froze, raindrop ceased to fall in his vision, the sword android in front of him also stuck in that staggered stance, open itself to incoming damage. Both Kiritsugu and Irisviel felt tremendous pain but after using such high speed-multiplication like this multiple times has pretty much rendered them to tolerance to such pain like this. Focus everything he has into the blade, he swung it true as it instantly severed apart the two arms of the android in front of him as 'blood' started to spew from the gaping wounds as its arm limped to the ground along with the blades held by it.

Quickly disengaged the _time alter _quickly after that, the thing then suddenly staggered back when it realized two of its arm got severed before it could even feedback the damage. Its hydraulic fluids leaking everywhere in a color like blood-red as it stained the whole ground wherever it stood in its 'blood'. It 'yelled' as if what Kiritsugu did is an anomaly that should have been impossible.

Kiritsugu doesn't care about what does that android have to say, it wanted him dead and he will make sure that it regrets its whole decision of trying to kill him in the first place. He then proceeds to dash towards the android and quickly slashes it as fast as he could.

"Cybernetic muscle fiber, extreme reflexes, high-frequency blades, speed adaptation sensors. They surely knew how to build a killing machine." Kiritsugu said as he gives it a mocking remark.

He quickly slashes the android in front of him repeatedly but turns out, its body and the blade have high enough magic resistance in order to avoid getting auto-severed by his Natalia but it can still receive damage from his blade's attacks. While as tough as it is, it isn't that withstanding when it comes to taking attacks from _time alter. _Just that he needs to find a perfect opening when it is susceptible to attack.

The android then swung all of its blades around, in which Kiritsugu respond by sidestepping its attack while still remaining in close-quarter around it. Skillfully slashing it with Natalia, he swung his blade two times in quick succession and then charging up the third slash where he quickly 'unsheath' his blade towards the android with a powerful blow.

That blow pushed the android back and then it became enraged the moment it got its footing back. It then swung its blade madly around like lawnmower razor at a speed that it caused a huge change in airflow alone. Kiritsugu prepared for another slash but immediately got blocked the moment it reached around the swinging field of the android. Kiritsugu attempted again by swinging in a different direction but he still got blocked nonetheless. Iri seeing her husband struggling to break through the mad swinging of the android, she decided to quickly lend him a hand.

"Kerry! Let me help you!" Iri said to her husband.

Letting her hand weaves through her hair, she chanted something as part of her hair threads started to disconnect and turned immediately into swords with durability comparable to steel, while it may not have the attack power of Natalia, a repeated strike would suffice.

Assembling her blades around Kiritsugu and it started to spin around him. Wherever he goes, the circle of blades will remain with him in the center even if he moves. She then focuses to the best of her ability and the blades quickly spin so fast to the point it looks like a circular saw that illuminates in white light. Kiritsugu takes advantage of it and quickly charged forward to the android while the steel thread blades still spinning erratically around him. As he got closer, the spiraling edges around him clash with the maddened swings of the android as it forced the android to use all of the six blades it has to block it.

The clash between them ended up creating a massive amount of sparks that the amount that is created when wielding looks like a pebble to a mountain.

Soon, the android can't handle the constant suppression of the spiral edges and quickly got staggered when Kiritsugu forced his way even further. When that chance comes to him again, he quickly chanted the _time alter _spell again.

_time alter nona accel_

Time froze once again, Kiritsugu mercilessly cut away two more of its arms as fast as he could before the forceful time recorrection would tear him and his wife apart. Right after when he has done so, he quickly disengaged _time alter _and time flow returned to normal again.

The android suddenly yelled once again when two more of its arms are gone, the thing then started to swing its blades even with more force in it at Kiritsugu and he doesn't know if he can still block it or not and he would rather not risk himself to test it. But because it is putting more strength into each blow of it, the android sacrificed a bit of its speed for significantly increased attack power. Perhaps if he could taking advantage of that slight demerit into his advantage, he will otherwise have to up his game if he doesn't want to receive a bloody end in his path.

Seeing that there is no other choice, he begins to chant the lowest level of _time alter, _the one that he used for so much time even back when he was alive as a normal person.

_time alter double accel_

Multiplies his time flow by two, this multiplication won't harm him that much unlike the others but this is the best for general uses of _time alter. _Moving drastically faster and it also applied to his wife, he quickly lands as many attacks as possible. His wife assists by firing her steel thread swords in volleys at the android. Moving at twice the speed of what they could normally, the couple not only managed to land even more attacks but the multiplication of time also increased their damage substantially.

With each slash of his blade, the impaling of her swords, all of them spills the 'blood' of the android even more. As if it started to become even more enraged than how they normally could think of, it then swung its sword towards where the couple are which they moved away before it even started to swing but the moment the blades collided onto the helipad, it makes a huge crack that coursed throughout the rooftop. If Kiritsugu wonders if he could still block it, he already received the answer already. It is "no you can't, you fucking dumbass".

The helicopters that escorted it started to mobilize around this place as they begin to fire their armaments at Kiritsugu and Iri, machine guns, missiles, whatever, those helicopters are trying to assist the android on taking them down.

Realized what the helicopters are trying to do, Kiritsugu quickly evaded the line of bullets but the helicopters are still aiming at him while ignoring everything else. This results in some of the helicopters' attack landed on the android instead and thus damaged it, albeit slightly. Kiritsugu however only finds the helicopters more of a nuisance and he will have to take them down if he wanted to focus on the android without interference. He could easily deflect the bullets and slash the missiles down but to do that while something that is perfectly capable of killing him is getting nearer? Miss him with that shit.

Getting away from the android enough, he instantly whips out his Stinger launcher and locked his target on the closeby helicopter and fired it without hesitation. The helicopter tried to move away from the rocket but what good use does dodging something clearly capable of homing in a target and the distance is only 10 meters? Yeah, good luck dodging that.

The helicopter then blew up into flaming wreckage and then crashes to the ground. While he is doing so, the android got closer to him and walking menacingly towards him. Unfortunately for the android though, Kiritsugu has faced way too much hardship in order to be psychologically threatened by walking alone, he then quickly jumped away from it and then reloaded the Stinger quickly so that he can take down the rest of the helicopter fleet. Rinse and repeat, the fleet of helicopters that escorted the android are nothing more but a heap of burning wreckage.

The moment he is done with the helicopters, the android then suddenly lunged towards him and prepared an overhead smash right at him. But with his speed remaining far supreme, he easily evaded it like a leaf blown by the wind. Right after the android missed its blow, Kiritsugu pushes all of his strength into one sheathed blow that ruptured through its cybernetic nanotech muscle fiber. Staggering from that blow as the hydraulic fluid can't stop leaking, Kiritsugu prepared to slash away two more of its arm until the thing suddenly just jumped off the building.

"What?" Kiritsugu thought as it started to act completely unorthodox.

Still not letting his guard down and prepared for anything the android might do. Literally in the next moment, the android jumped straight to the rooftop of this extremely high tower while carrying a steel crane, the kind that is used to build skyscrapers. The android then yelled with an ear-piercing scream and then swung the entire crane as if it was a stick in a human hand. With such ridiculous swinging speed, Kiritsugu has no choice but to block it and really, a single blade can't block an entire crane like that. And when the crane finally hits him, the force that the crane struck him was too great that he got hurt tremendously but not fatal, his feet didn't have enough friction to stop his momentum and thus he got knocked away to the side and falls off the building with his wife.

"Kerry!" Irisviel said as she quickly applied her healing on him as fast as she could.

With the wounds on Kerry's body fade away, she quickly used her hair and applied her magecraft to it. The moment she determined to be the perfect chance to use it, she quickly separated parts of her hair and turned them into an extremely long rope and quickly threw them to the top of the building. The moment it latched on, she pulled both of them back to the top.

Returned back to the top, Kiritsugu landed on his two feet and then suddenly kneeled from the sudden shift of his spirit. But his eyes not disconnecting away from the android in front of him in the slightest. The android swings the crane at him with such ridiculous speed again but Kiritsugu won't fall for it once more. Pushing his mind to the limit, he quickly chanted his spell as fast as he could.

_time alter nona accel_

Time froze once again, his focus shifted towards the crane that the android is about to hit him with. He then quickly using a sheathed slash into the crane as the blade severe it automatically without effort. All of this before a real second could pass and then he disengaged the _time alter_ and soon things flowed back to normal.

By evading through the severed part, part of the crane flew away due to being disconnected and while the rest is too short to reach Kiritsugu. The moment he passed through the crane, he quickly zeroed in and then pulled an upward slash that would have otherwise bisected a person entirely but instead staggered the android and makes it let go of the crane instead. Seeing the perfect chance come to him again, he quickly activated his _time alter._

_time alter nona accel_

Within the frozen time, he then slashes away the two more arms of the android, leaving it with only one pair of arms left. He then disengaged and quickly remain his distance away from it.

The android registered the sudden shock and suddenly started to shake violently as if it is having a seizure while its hydraulic fluid is leaking everywhere.

"Kiri? What is it doing?" Iri asked her husband.

"Beat me, I don't even know what the fuck is that thing really, even till now.". Kiritsugu replied to his wife while still remaining in battle stance.

While they are looking at the seizuring android in front of them, they heard something that is emitting from the android itself.

_Warning! Warning! Critical damage registered to neural network. Requesting Overdrive Protocol..._

"Shit!" Kiritsugu said as he quickly rushes forward so that he can finish off the android before it becomes something even more monstrous.

_Request authorized. Initiate Overdrive Protocol._

The moment before Kiritsugu's blade managed to reach it, a blast of aura was immediately released and knocked him back in an instant. Surrounding the android is an aura of pure red like blood itself. It was as if the thing is on full-blown bloodlust right now. Its body seems to be emitting electricity in the color of red around it even if it is plain impossible to do so.

"For fuck sake!" Kiritsugu cursed for he could have ended the whole fight swiftly had he killed it the moment it is still having a seizure.

Now, this is an enemy of a whole new level than before. All gloves are off, all bars are removed, one will live and the other will die. This is an ultimate battle where everything will account for the outcome of this fight. Kiritsugu raised his blade once more and the android in front of him is raising its two blades now illuminate in blood-red.

The android now charges toward Kiritsugu with its the rocket muzzle in the back pushing it towards him at Godspeed. Kiritsugu quickly blocked the attack with Natalia and the force applied to him pushed him back by a considerable distance before the android jumped away and lunged at him again in the mid-air. Kiritsugu took a deep breath and then chanted the _time alter _again to give him an edge against the overdriven android.

_time alter triple accel_

Placing his bet on the most cost-effective gambit he has right now, the speed of both him and his wife increased tremendously but not without a huge pain that is also burdening both of them but considering what they did, this isn't anything special anymore. With increased speed awareness, he perfect-parried the android in a frame of about mere thousandth of a second.

The moment it got staggered, he quickly slashes the android as much as he could. With the tripled speed, no matter how the android may try to slash him like hell just breaks loose, Kiritsugu skillfully evaded all of it while landing punishment against the android. The moment it tried to get away from him, Irisviel quickly creates many steel-thread blades above the android and unleashes them all down on it like a storm on it.

The android just keeps slashing at his afterimages as it keeps mistaking it for him while Kiritsugu keeps on slashing things and forcefully cancel out momentum by sheer focus alone and thus keep 'stunlock' the android from moving. The combination of Iri's suppressing attacks and Kiri's continuous slash down on the android managed to prevent it from even making a proper attack.

However, it started to become electrify more and more and Kiritsugu decided to fall back before something bad would happen to him and his wife. Just as he thought, the android discharged a massive blast of energy and also resulted in a massive gale that pushed Kiri back by a distance. The killing machine then jumped away from him and out of the building itself. However, it didn't fall, it just levitates there as if gravity no longer has any effect on it. The android then moves away as it seems to raise something up.

"Dear... Lord..." Iri said as she realized how much debris the thing is pulling up to the sky.

Derelict buildings, ruins, even destroyed armors and so much more, so much that it could blot out the sky if it weren't for the fog covered majority of his and her vision but they knew that it is the force that it is without a doubt reckoned. The android is too far away from him to slash his Natalia at it and considering it can even tank Natalia's attacks, none of his ranged armaments can probably harm it either way.

Focusing and mentally prepare himself for whatever to come, raising his blade at the android in a distance. Knowing that whatever it might do, he has to counter back no matter what.

_time alter nona accel_

The android then tossed all of the ruins it managed to pick up at him y some unknown force, electromagnetic? Who knows? But all of them moving at such ridiculous speed that even nona accel doesn't make them slow at all to him compared to his surroundings without somehow being crumbled at their own speed. Without further ado, he quickly slashes all of the rubble that came towards him with each cleave cut the whole thing cleanly like a hot knife through butter.

With such extreme speed that he is performing, the barrage of rubbles being thrown at him is only made manageable thanks to extremely high _time alter _modifier. He can't even fathom what kind of stuff he is cutting through right now, sometimes a boulder, sometimes a broke down Panzer or even burning wreckage of a helicopter and even an entire building. Just is there a limit to whatever that thing decided to throw at him?

The moment that it decided to done throwing shit at Kiritsugu, it suddenly boosted into the air. Kiritsugu then quickly disengaged from nona accel and his movements became a lot more awkward due to the sheer pain he felt from moving at nine times speed. Iri's healing soothed the pain and stress away but constant abusing it makes him felt that he will not get out of this fight in one piece.

"Kiri!" Irisviel tried to warn him about something approaching him rapidly.

Heeding his wife's words, he quickly jumped out of his location immediately and the android slammed right at where Kiritsugu was a second ago and also discharged a huge amount of energy in the process results in a blast that would have otherwise injured him gravely. The moment the blast is just remaining residuals, Kiritsugu quickly rushes in and prepared to slash the android with his weapon.

But... it isn't that simple anymore. The moment his blade is about to land on the android, it automatically splits itself to avoid his slash, as if no longer bound by molecules bond, no matter how Kiritsugu tried to slash, in any way or how fast it is, it just automatically split its body just to avoid his cuts.

"Impossible!" Kiritsugu said as the android suddenly can split itself apart into multiple parts.

And even if the arms aren't connected directly into the body, it still swings madly at Kiritsugu which he has to quickly takes care of. Iri quickly created as many swords as she could and even throw them from its blind spot but does little to help her husband.

"Kiritsugu! Try to focus on something that it can't split apart, you won't get anywhere at this rate!" Iri said to her husband.

The sheer tension of the battle started to make him pulling leap of faith within his judgment and the fact that he is an assassin which means he isn't mean for direct combat in the first place, but after hearing what Iri said, he decided to quickly strategize what he should do. And then a brilliant flash appeared in his mind as he quickly placed his high-rolling bet on the clock-handed gambit.

_time alter nona accel_

Speeding time to the point that everything just seems to be stopped, he then prepared his blade into the stance that every Eastern swordman always has to master, The simple overhead slash that all of them spent so long to master. Simple to do but really hard to push it to the zenith. Focusing his mind into one place that it couldn't split apart, the head.

With one true blow that moves with a speed that easily went beyond Mach 9000 in real-time, the head flew off while the body as the rest of it falls apart like Jenga. Kiritsugu also disengaged quickly the moment he pulled the slash and he quickly gets to the android head as quickly as he could. He then grabs it and then started to chant _time alter _once again.

_time alter square accel_

The moment time sped up, he quickly knees the head repeatedly with each blow hard enough to crack a Servant's head with the multiplier that he is on right now.

"_**Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!** _" Kiritsugu cursed with each time he knees the android's head.

And keep in mind, Kiritsugu has A+ in Speed parameter thus makes him easily one of the most agile Servants in Chaldea. And being sped up by four-time normally, what you would hear in real-time can only be compared to an extremely loud jackhammer attempt to drill the bedrock.

With each knee, 'blood' splatters. How they managed to compact so much of this into a head alone is just completely impossible physically and they would bet that the majority of this android's weight is just its blood.

"Fuck you-" Kiritsugu about to knee the head again when it suddenly jerks off Kiritsugu's hand and quickly rolled towards the pile of body parts and reassembled itself in a mere instant.

Kiritsugu tried to slash it but it quickly moves away from him and moves out of the edge of the building itself as it once again pulling shit up to hurl at them.

"Not again..." Kiritsugu said as he quickly prepared his stance once more for what the android is about to do.

_time alter nona accel_

It seems that whatever it hurled at him must have a trace of metal of sorts in it like rebars within reinforced concrete and stuff for example... But there is only one thing one would need to know though, one mistake and that piece of concrete moving at Mach 9000 is going to splatter him and thus he can't allow any mistake in the first place. Slashing through the ceaseless barrage of ruins and rubbles being thrown at him, each cut perfectly everything hurled at him apart, it doesn't even in one certain way, he could swing his sword randomly and it would still achieve the same level of effect. Butchering his way through the rubble being hurled at him to the point he even diced them into mere fragments as they soon just fall to the ground when an equal force was reapplied.

The moment it stops hurling random shit at Kiritsugu, it quickly leaped up to the sky. Kiritsugu already knew what it is about to do and thus quickly disengage _time alter_ moves constantly so that the android can't precisely aim at him. Just like how he thoughts, there is some little inaccuracy in its combat algorithms but that little inaccuracy matters a huge deal to him since he just barely got out of its energy blast when it discharged the moment it landed.

Kiritsugu prepared to aim at the head again but something isn't right. It started to exhaust something into the surroundings and making his vision worse than it already is.

"Shit! Smokescreen!" Kiritsugu said as he tried to put on his guard while preparing for any potential ambush.

With his vision limited down into a mere twenty centimeters around him, he puts himself into a state of extreme alert. Letting his own instinct and reflex to act freely in this situation, he also quickly chanted his time alter in order to deal with the android much swifter.

_time alter triple accel_

With his time accelerated, even if the enemy is right in the face, he could still make a saving throw by blocking it. Having two sets of eyes to monitor things really help because getting backstabbed or flanked is one of the worse kinds of reasons to get killed.

"Kiritsugu, at the back!" Iri said as her head was turned around to her back.

Kiritsugu wasted no moments and quickly parried that sneak attack from the android before it quickly moves away from him and fades into the smoke around it.

"Kiritsugu! Left flank!" Iri said to her husband as she detected the overwhelming presence heading here from the direction she mentioned.

And once again, he parried another attack from it before it just disengaged immediately before he got a chance to attack it. This pattern of attack just went on for who knows how long, frontal, left flank, right flank, back attack. At this point, Kiritsugu has enough with this kind of bullshit and thus took the matter entirely into his hands.

Preparing his stance once again before he performs a spinning slash but not to cut his surroundings but in fact using the flat part of his blade in order to clear the surroundings. With a single swirl of his blade cleared the entire smokescreen around him and revealed where the android is rushing towards him. He then quickly sidesteps its attack before following up with a powerful blow.

_time alter square accel_

The moment he evaded the slash that the android about to land just now, he quickly chanted the _time alter _spell and quickly follows an overhead slash immediately. The blow landed squarely on the android's head and staggered it immediately. Not enough to disconnect the head from the body but enough to give him a good enough time frame for attack.

He then quickly dropkicks the android as it got pushed back to the edge before falling off the building. Given what he just did, if that thing can still levitate, he'll cut its 'wings' off so that it can have a taste of being fallen from grace.

But... that thing didn't come back on its own. Kiritsugu baffled as there is one helicopter that somehow managed to slip away from his detection and the android is held onto it by its right arm. It moved away from Kiritsugu and begins to unleash its payload of missiles at him. Kiritsugu quickly retaliates with his Stinger as his missile flying towards the helicopter. The missiles avoided getting collide with each other but now heading towards its firers.

The Stinger missile quickly approaches the helicopter and-... The android slashed it...

"Of fucking course..." Kiritsugu grunted as the helicopter's missiles approaching him.

The missiles collided with the building and soon the edge that Kiritsugu and Irisviel are standing on quickly fall apart as both of them fall to their death if not acting fast. Seeing the emergence of the situation, she quickly uses the other magecraft that she is also specialized in other than healing. Chanting some words while her hand weaves through her own hair, hair threads quickly moves through her hand like a loom that is making textiles as each thread turned into something.

Familiar magecraft, the creation and forging of matter created by her crafts. Her weapon used is a thread that is extremely thin, long, and flexible that she can use to create instantaneous homunculus that can attack her enemy while capable of being turned into various forms and shapes. It is more of a means to secure safe escape more than direct combat but her Servant's modifier turned the ability into something capable of fighting against Servants in vast quantities without costing much.

The thread itself can be substituted with her own hair and there are many times she used it like that. It is still a mystery how her hair remained unchanged despite using her own hair as a catalyst for so many times. Not that it matters to her anyway.

As both of them are falling, the thread she created from her hair quickly formed into a large bird that resembles a phoenix, makes sense considering her power is the anchoring of the souls into the world so that she can prevent their untimely deaths. Quicky commands the bird for herself, it quickly grabbed her and soon fly straight into the building while moving up towards the top.

"It seems that the helicopter has also pursued us too." Kiritsugu said as he is being held onto by his wife who is also being held onto by her phoenix.

Missiles flying towards the inside of the buildings as it blew everything apart inside. The phoenix still flying towards the top and ignoring the ongoing chaos around it. Shrapnels, explosions, there is only one thing that is driving it, Irisviel's will. Moving swiftly through the steel supporting frame that is placed across the inside, Irisviel fired her steel thread swords in order to destroy them so that it won't block her way anymore.

Who knows how long they flew up to the top? A minute or two? They don't even know. They only focus on one thing alone, to take down the android for once and for all. Soon, they finally see it, the ceiling. In about just a second left, they are going to hit the ceiling head-on if they still going at this speed.

_time alter nona accel_

Kiritsugu chanted his _time alter _and quickly slashes the ceiling apart with Natalia, lines of slashes started to visibly form on the ceiling's surface as they then quickly burst through it as he disengaged afterward and reached the top quickly.

The moment they came face to face with the helicopter, it quickly fires the missiles toward the phoenix but it swiftly evaded in a nick of time.

"Iri! Tell the phoenix to destroy the helicopter, now!" Kiritsugu told his wife.

Heeding his words unconditionally, she quickly commanded the phoenix to let her go before it dives straight into the helicopter at such a speed that the android can't react in time. The helicopter exploded on impact when the phoenix struck it and the force of the explosion pushed the android towards Kiritsugu who is still in midair when that happened. At that point, it is nigh of the time for the permanent shutdown of the android, for once and for all.

_time alter hex accel_

Whether by some dumb virtues that both of them still held onto Avalon and Excalibur even now because there is no way for them to survive the excessive use of _time alter_ like this in the first place. But nonetheless, Kiritsugu accelerated his speed to 16 times normal and he is about to send this android into particles.

Slashing with his Natalia with such an ungodly speed that not even the android could split itself even by a micrometer. With his blades moving at subrelativistic speed, virtually nothing can withstand his blade at all. Thousands of slash being unleashed while time is moving so slow that even a slug moves immensely faster by millions of times than the flow of times right now.

Whether by his sheer rage and wrath alone, to slash that thing straight down to molecules is just overkill at this point but whatever flows in Kiritsugu's boat is fine with him no matter how ridiculous it is.

He then disengaged and the android from before has been slashed into oblivion, like fading away and forgotten. Soon, the only thing remains is the clearing of winds itself, signaling the conflict has ended. Both Kiritsugu and Iri then staggered from the sheer pain and reliefs as they both fell to the back and looked up to the foggy sky above them, letting the rain relieving the torment they went through.

"It's... over..." Kiritsugu breathes heavily as he lies on the surface of what was once called a helipad.

Lying there while the rain still showers on them, having no idea of where to go or even the slightest clue of where they are. They are truly alone right now, much like falling to the depth of the empty ocean with the only closest person to you being the only companion in this lonesome world.

"Kiri... Will they be okay?" Irisviel asked her husband.

Kiritsugu doesn't know how to answer this particular question. He doesn't promise something that he can't fulfill. He knew damn well that he can't answer something he has no information to vouch for.

But... he still held onto that hope. The hope that his children will able to overcome their hurdles just like them. He let out a silent prayer before his eyelids closed itself.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Bloodstained Philosophy**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

"Desmond! Brace yourself!" Larry said to his friend who is helplessly tried to control his flying path but doesn't seem to do much at all.

Both of them then collided with a building and scatters the dust upon their landings. But other than that, they seem to be fine for having a hell of unwanted flight like that.

"Larry! Are you alright?" Desmond asked him after he managed to find him after digging up the rubble that landed on Larry.

"I'm fine. Trust me, I had far worse fall in my entire life back when I was alive. This is nothing." Larry said as he grabbed for Desmond's hand as his friend pulled him up.

Standing amidst the unknown and being separated from everyone is already bad, who knows what kind of stuff that the Nazi is willing to pit himself up against?

"Desmond, something is approaching..." Larry said to Desmond as he can discern that sound that he is hearing right now

He looked at the fleet of choppers from the distance approaching this location. Carrying a container of sorts inside. His heart is screaming repeatedly as it tried to warn him of something horrible is going to happen if he still stays here.

The container is dropped in the area in front of him. The air became tense the moment it stood there motionlessly but felt like a bomb slowly ticking to its detonation.

Desmond slowly approaching the container, trying to not breakdown from the intense fear swelling up inside. He may run valiantly towards the land of death but that doesn't mean he could cast off the fear of death. To not fear death is to be inhumane.

Larry also followed Desmond, not wanting his friend to face this ominous threat alone. Stepping alongside his friend and bravely facing the whatever threat may do, he won't turn back on his allies no matter what.

When both of them made it near where the container is, they checked if there is any way to open it but there seems to be nothing at all. Suddenly, something inside punched the container with such force that it created a huge shockwave that pushed both Larry and Desmond back and a huge dent on the container itself. The next strike burst open the container and knocked both of them by a large distance away.

"Larry! Are you alright?" Desmond said as he tried to pull his friend back on his two feet.

"I'm fine! But what the hell on this accursed earth is that thing!?" Larry said as he grabbed Desmond's hand and quickly get back on his feet.

On their back stood a figure, surrounding it are blazing in flame and destruction. A man with an extremely muscular figure wearing heavy armor that clad from toe to head. The Nazi insignia is already a clear sign that it belongs to the Nazil He doesn't know if it is an Azure Soldier or a cyborg or an android that is donning human skin but what he can guarantee for sure that it is mean business.

It then suddenly chase after them with unreal speed, Larry quickly moves first and tried to get Desmond away from the cyborg that is pursuing them. Unfortunately though, too late. The cyborg swung its arm at Desmond and the poor medic got flung away like a ragdoll from the impact into a distance and quite high into the sky.

"Desmond!" Larry said when his friend got knocked out like that.

Larry quickly turned his attention towards the cyborg and he tried to use his Suomi on it but the bullets just bounce off the moment it lands on the cyborg. It then rams at him with the shoulder and he got staggered to the ground from the sheer force being applied. The cyborg then grabbed his head as Larry tried to break through its grip.

The cyborg then headbutts him with an extreme force that its shockwave created from the impact shook the surroundings. Larry being dazed by a powerful blow to his head then suddenly got punched squarely on the face and then he fell to the ground. The cyborg then tried to follow up but Larry acrobatically pulled himself up and tried to retaliate against the cyborg but all of his attacks got swat off effortlessly.

The cyborg then arm locked Larry the moment he tried to pull the next punch on it and the cyborg then proceeds to punch him in the face against. Larry quickly evaded the oncoming blow by tilting his head at the right time and many of them were near-miss as those blows graze on him.

Infuriated by Larry's persistence, it then grabbed Larry by his neck and lifts him up in the air. Larry was desperate as he attempts to break free of its grip by struggling his way through but to no avail. The cyborg proceeds to toss him high up in the sky and the sheer force applied on him making him spinning erratically with virtually no control of himself. The moment he reached the terminal height that the force could bring him and then fall to the ground, the cyborg then kicked him right into his gut like a ball the moment he almost reaching the ground and suddenly he got blown away into many buildings and shattered all of them in process.

Rising up from the rubble and ruins, his body is in great pain from what just happened but he ignored it anyway. His eyes are burning with a flame that incinerates anything within his sight. The cyborg then continued to walks toward him as if to continue the execution that Larry is trying to delay.

Larry then rushes first and landed a punch on it before it could attack first. But the moment the cyborg punch, the sheer power from that attack alone ruptured the air its path. Comparing that to Larry's is like comparing a punch of the most professional martial artists to the one belong to a toddler's tantrum. Larry can pull many attacks before the android could pull one but any careless mistake and he will pay a price that not even his life would be enough.

The cyborg then tried to kick Larry and Larry by his instinct tried to block the attack. By some pure dumb luck or his actual strength is far greater than how he thought, he actually successfully blocking that kick with his arms alone which broke the sound barrier by a hundred times in the distance that only covered the leg alone.

The moment he successfully blocking that kick, the cyborg begins to charge up as if it is trying to lunge at him. Knowing damn well what would happen if that shit actually got him in its grasp, being in deep shit isn't gonna cover all of the trouble he would get in so. Quickly moving away from it while the cyborg is pursuing him, that thing is still surprisingly fast despite looking so bulky but Larry can still evade it with no trouble.

The cyborg and then begins to charge up its leg before making an extremely powerful stomp that created a localized earthquake, Larry still trying to balance himself and not staggering from the earthquake. Focusing his movements and maximize the efficiency of his motions, he still managed to attack the cyborg even when he is still in close proximity of the attack.

Larry doesn't even know if any of his attacks actually do anything to the cyborg. It is really hard to tell when the thing sunders the earth with its sheer strength alone. But even then, standing still is an even worse option than fighting back against it. Focusing his strength and he quickly punches toward the cyborg right in its face.

However... it didn't work like how Larry expected. The cyborg blocked his entire fist with its hand. With his fist within its palm, the cyborg crushed Larry's fist with a single squash of its palm. Blood spewed everywhere and his entire hand's bones completely crushed, Larry can't help but grunted in pain when his palm is now suddenly a bloody pulp. The cyborg then proceeds to punch Larry once again right at the center of his face squarely, again. The sheer force of the impact knocked him away by a huge distance as he landed face first and skidded a long distance into the ground.

His face burning up from the sheer friction applied, he quickly pulled himself up and looked at the crushed left hand of his. The fire in his eyes started to burn even greater as if the fuel of that flame are intense emotions. The cyborg then charges toward him and quickly swings its arm at him but Larry evaded all of them without showing anything in his face but an expression of pure scorn and loathe.

The moment it tried to punch him, Larry used both of his hands to stop the punch right dead in its track. Despite his left hand is completely fractured, as long as it still connects to his body, it will regenerate soon enough. While the pain would have normally even brought a Servant down to their knees, his face still remains as stone-cold as a mountain.

Both of them pushing back against each other, both of them refuse to yield. The cyborg quickly tried even harder to push its punch even further but Larry pushes the whole thing away in a mere moment. The cyborg decided to follow up with an uppercut but Larry deflected it before it could even be pulled and also followed it up by shining its face with his elbow. It then tried to kick him in order to break his calf but Larry kicks it right back at the same time then follows up with a roundhouse kick.

He then proceeds to leap towards it and prepared to punch it with his right hand but the cyborg raised both of its arms and block it before the punch could reach its face. Larry then takes advantage of it and quickly grabbed it by the shoulders as he pulled himself up in order to knee it right in the face. The knee landed squarely on the cyborg's face as it staggers back from the sudden attack.

The cyborg quickly regained its composure and charge towards Larry before swinging its arm at Larry's head. Larry managed to evade it but he couldn't block the following-up uppercut in time and thus staggered and soon the cyborg grabbed him by the neck, again.

Larry grips the cyborg at his throat although he is the one being lifted up right now. The cyborg then begins to grab his arm as to rip it apart from its grip but in doing so, Larry managed to push the grip of the cyborg back, and thus what they are gripping is each others' hands. The cyborg then pushing him back, causing a massive disorienting grinding sound along with a large amount of spark to appear just from the sheer friction of their feet alone.

Seeing that Larry is still persisting no matter what, it begins to attempt to headbutt him. Larry seeing that it is trying to do something and quickly do the same thing. Their head clashed with each other with such great force that its shockwave ended up shook the whole area apart. It is a miracle that Larry's head is somehow intact despite clashing with such great force like that.

Their hands are still gripping each other, the cyborg still pushing him down and soon he knelt down when the cyborg is slowly overpowering him through the raw strength. Right after that, the cyborg then knees him in the face and then following it up with a right hook. Dazed from the swift blow of the cyborg, it mercilessly following up with a left hook straight into his temple.

With his back exposed to the cyborg, it then grabbed his hair and then slammed his face into the ground with the force that cracked the ground in a radius of a dozen meters. It then forcefully pulling him up in the delirious state of his and then let loose a haymaker into Larry's face with so much force that it could level a whole city with a single blow. And when that isn't enough, it then decided to kick him with a force that shattered his ribcage and knocked him away by nearly a hundred meter as his limp body tossing against the ground.

Larry's face still refuses to show any signs of pain, he then tried to pull himself up but the injury he sustained makes his combat ability severely weakened. This isn't gonna end well for him no matter how things may go. The moment he managed to stand on his two feet, the cyborg is already nearby him. As if to add insult to injury, it then decided to smash his head into the ground once more.

Larry tried to crawl, but the cyborg stomped on him. Then again, again and again... It keeps stomping him for who knows how much time has passed. And when it decided to finish him up by stomp on him with both feet at the same time. With each stomp shatters the sound barrier and its shockwave are deafening. And Larry just went through all of it and still somehow alive.

It then walks away from him, thinking that the target is doomed to its death. Thinking that it is only up to a matter of time before Larry would fade away into earthly dust. But boi, how wrong they are. What the cyborg just has seen, aren't even a fraction of his actual power.

The flame in his eyes are ablaze, the pain and torment only to fuel the fire of determination even further. Loathe, hatred, despair, wrath, disgust, contempt, all of them started to swirl around his heart like a vortex, with power like a dying star. And his body is the Dyson Sphere that draws out them and brings them into actual force, actual action.

It turned back towards him and walked forward, thinking that it will finish up what it started. Larry smirked as he cracked his knuckles, although he only has one functional fist, he won't let any of it to stop him from what he has to do.

It then charges toward him first as it swings a left hook at him but Larry just simply tilted his head as the blow literally missed him by a sheer hairbreadth. Larry's physical condition can only allow him some really basic attack patterns. A punch, two roundhouse kicks, and repeat. But even then, each blow has so much force behind that it caused a large shockwave with each blow that he somehow managed to land even during his horrible physical condition.

The cyborg then pulled itself together and unleash a war cry that somehow created a blast of concussive condensed air that can even harm Servants. But Larry just fucking tanked them head-on with his face and unfazed by what would literally be thousands time stronger than the strongest storm condensed into a single attack.

It then stomped the ground and created a massive gust and also created a localized earthquake in the process. Even in the most precarious situation that he can get it, he still unfazed by anything that the cyborg threw at him. The flame in his eyes burns even greater as his hatred started to consume any sense of self-preservation and limiter that prevents him from doing anything that might severely physically maim him.

As if his stubbornness started to infuriate it even greater, it then charged towards him as it then threw a devastating right hook into him but Larry only use one hand to block it. The force is so great that Larry is pushed back by a few meters as his shoe skid against the ground.

He coughed out blood, pushing himself into the limit isn't something he really should do right now. He is trekking on the path of no return, he might be going to permanently maim himself if he still goes on like this. But... turning back isn't something in his dictionary, at all.

His right arm started to pulsating of something, a dark aura emanating through it makes it as if it is the arm of a sinner he is having. To be fair though, the guy might consider himself a sinner already. He charged towards the cyborg and then punches it right in the chest with all he has. The cyborg doesn't even flinch from the blow but Larry started to punch the cyborg repeatedly with a speed that is too fast for human eyes. Each blow has enough power to create shockwaves from the sheer impact alone.

Larry after throwing his barrage of fists for a half a minute at the cyborg, then landed it with a punch immensely stronger than the rest. But it seems to do nothing much against the cyborg for it doesn't even flinch at all from the attacks from before.

Something inside burns even harder, like hellfire that devours anything thrown into it. A flame of hatred that burns even heaven itself. The dark aura emanating both of his arms started to become even more condensed like they being tainted by the most hellish flame.

Larry then proceeds to throw his fists at the cyborg even harder, the shockwave now is four times larger than even the cyborg. The attack rate of his has immensely increased to the point that the previous attempt looks like a flintlock gun compared to this electric driven Gatling. The cyborg then started to flinch from unable to handle all of the power behind it. Larry then focuses his strength into both fists of his and quickly punches the cyborg with both of his fists. The power of said blow managed to push the cyborg back by... half a meter.

The cyborg still looking unharmed but Larry knew that he is making progress. There has to be a limit to this thing and he knew that he is getting closer to it slowly but surely.

But... it seems that not even the cyborg used all of its latent power. Something started to spread from its heart and power is emanating through it. The cyborg then punched the ground with a force that it caused a massive crack with a radius of a hundred meters. It seems that something is boosting its strength even further than how they could think of.

Larry doesn't care, he then charges toward it again and punched it with his dark aura hand. The cyborg, however, is unfazed from the said blow before it punches him and he is now suddenly flying through the air, again. He landed on the ground with his body laid on defenselessly, something inside him really broke and it can't mean well to him. The cyborg approached him again and now it is on top of him.

It then threw a left hook into his face and then a right hook into the same place. It then started to throw all of these devastating hooks with the speed started to increase over time. Sparks flying through the air like fireflies with each punch of it. The rate is intensified, the power is also intensified too. It seems like the end for the poor Larry whose seems to be heavily beaten up despite still remaining emotionless no matter what.

It then stopped its repeated barrage of punching and instead went for the final blow. It raised its fist up and Larry watches it as it darkens into the color of despair. If that thing could speak, it would probably say:

_Die, you piece of shit._

An atomic-like blast went off, its sheer force of that final blow somehow managed to atomize air into nuclear fission and created that devastating explosion. It seems to be the end for the poor Larry whose effort ultimately didn't matter in the end. If one would think so...

**Meanwhile at Illya's location**

"What the!?" Illya said as she was suddenly shocked by a deafening blast of shockwaves that reached her

She then quickly jumped to the top of the closest building and witness the mushroom cloud from the distance. No matter one would try to justify, no one can see a nuclear blast and then just suddenly went "Oh, Okay..." like that. Illya's feeling started to turn into dread as she knew that this isn't going to fly for her.

"Oh no... Something happened!" Illya said as she gasps from the sight of the nuclear explosion.

Her mind quickly turned toward her family or even her allies, she started to fear the possibility that the Nazis have managed to find a way to take out her allies. As if overwhelmed from intense fear, her body refused to move despite that she knew damn well that she has to do something, but how?

**Meanwhile at Kiritsugu and Irisviel's location**

"What the! What just happened-" Kiritsugu said as he got up suddenly from being startled from an extremely loud noise that suddenly bombarded his eardrum.

He gazed at Irisviel's expression only to see the only thing on her face is disbelief. He then looked at where Iri is looking at only to be bombarded with that same disbelief itself.

He looked at the mushroom cloud that is clearly visible despite the fog. It is really hard to ignore something this cataclysmic even if they try to divert their attention away.

Kiritsugu tried to stand up but his body refuses to move properly, even walking is a burden to him as he can't even take a step without spending so much effort just to move his legs. He doesn't even know why the hell does his body is so sluggish right now.

"Kiritsugu, our mana reserve were heavily drained after that fight. Even if I wanted to move, my body refused to follow my order no matter how hard I tried.". Iri said to her husband.

Kiritsugu ignores what his wife said to him, he can't turn a blind eye to this, not when others' lives are at stake. His improper movement soon punishes him as he then falls face flat into the ground. Iri can only look at him while wanting to curse herself for being so useless right now.

Kiritsugu clenched his fist, is he truly powerless in this whole predicament right now?

**Back at Illya's location.**

"Illya! Pull yourselves together!" Her Cheeful-type Mystic Code came to life as it quickly tried to get Illya's mind together.

No response, she is too baffled and disbelief to hear whatever Ruby has to say. Ruby then tried to pinch Illya's right by at her cheek just to make focus at it.

With the sudden jolt of pain, Illya's attention then diverted to Ruby. Wanting to payback for doing it to her, she tried to grab her Mystic Code back but it keeps evading her grasp no matter what.

"Illya! You need to think straight now. Even if the idea that some of us may have died, you still have to salvage this whole situation no matter what." Ruby said to Illya

Her tears won't stop flowing no matter what, the turmoil of emotions inside her is clouding her judgment from making proper actions. Who can blame her? She is only ten years old at heart. To push all responsibility on her like this is just cruel.

Suddenly, she noticed something within her sights, a... beacon? She then wipes those tears of her away as she approaches the beacon and managed to find the most crucial item that belongs to her Master. His communicator.

Suddenly filled with joy when she was in a state of near-despair just a while ago, the feeling is completely cathartic to her as she quickly opens the communicator for herself.

"Master! How is the situation?! Our observation feeds were suddenly gone spiral out of control just a while ago and- Oh..." Da Vinci said as she didn't realize who it was on the other end.

"Da Vinci-chan! How is the situation!? Is everyone in the Chaldean team alright?" Illya said to her as she is desperate for information.

"Well, according to the life signal feeds, I could confirm the safety of everyone else in your family but the other who aren't connected to our Master by contract? Not so sure..." Da Vinci said to Illya.

Illya sighed that she learned the fact that her family is still alright but she started to worry about the others who are likely to be in danger. If that nuclear explosion from the distance means anything, the chance that the same explosion can happen is really likely to happen to her and the others. If the communicator is in her hand right now then what on earth is her Master using in order to keep the communication with the Shadow Border.

"The communicator might have been gotten out of our Master's pouch during the flight and landed nearby you. But even then, that doesn't mean it is impossible for us to communicate with each other. It would be more accurate to say that he can't initiate the call with us but we have to do so instead. It basically becomes a one-way call that can only be initiated by us in the communication quarter" Da Vinci explained.

That's another burden that she can relief off, her Master is fine even without the communicator. But then an idea flashes through her mind. Whatever is capable of creating a nuclear blast can't be anything weak. She needed a weapon with a strength that is capable of fighting against it on even ground. Her mind quickly processes anything within her memory that can recall something powerful enough.

A faint image flashed through her mind, the image of her brother before he became a Servant. That unforgettable red hair of his, his unbounded hospitability and innocence. All of them were gone when he has forsaken himself for his ideals and paid the price for it. But that image reminded her of someone, someone who can potentially create a weapon devastating enough to counter against a force on par of a nuclear bomb.

"Sengo Muramasa!" Illya yelled so loud that Da Vinci startled because of it.

"The swordsmith who created the Muramasa you may ask? He is currently stationed in the second base in Wandering Sea right now but what do you want with him?" Da Vinci asked.

"I wanted him to create a copy of Muramasa or at least a powered down of it. Something tells me that in order to face against the force that can easily create a nuclear explosion in a single strike alone required a blade that can even cleave through all physical and metaphysical matters. A blade to cleave even karma and destiny itself." Illya said as she tried to make a sounding excuse in order to have it.

"I don't know, Illya. I don't think there is a chance that there is anybody who is still alive being near that blast. I think you should-" Da Vinci tried to convince Illya before being cut off by her.

"No! There is still someone alive there, I could feel it in my heart. If we were to give up at the insurmountable odds, we would have been doomed from long ago. There are so many times that our history came close to its destruction that I can't even count anymore. If we give up right now, that would be to spit on our efforts this far! Isn't Chaldean supposed to make even impossibility a reality no matter how insurmountable fate may up against us?" Illya said to Da Vinci at how pessimistic she was.

Da Vinci became silence for a while and then she opened her eyes and said to Illya:

_Okay, I shall direct the channel to the Wandering Sea. Hope you can convince him..._

Illya became hopeful as her eyes shined with sparkles in it. The channel that the communicator connected is now transferred directly into Muramasa's workshop. Soon, a man with red hair came into contact with the communicator and shows his face for her.

"Grandpa!" Illya said cheerfully.

"Oh for the love of, can you stop calling me your grandpa?! I may act grumpily like an old man but that doesn't mean I should be addressed as one. But either way, what do you want?" Muramasa said to Illya.

"Can you recreate the Muramasa for us? The situation begs for one right now!" Illya said to the swordsmith.

"Why do you need a katana in WW2? That weapon was discarded for ranged weaponry but let me guess, some of you are adamant on suicide and wanted to go out with a bang, right?" Muramasa said jokingly to Illya.

"Uh, no!? Seriously, this is no time for jokes. We need a Muramasa right now!" Illya said to the man in red again.

"Do you have any divine eastern swordsman or woman?" Muramasa asked.

"No?" Illya said.

"Then you aren't having a flying chance in hell to use that because the Muramasa will straight up kill you if you aren't of the divine.". Muramasa said to her harshly.

"Then can you at least make a watered-down version of Muramasa? I believe that it would still be powerful enough and not-" Illya tried to say to Muramasa before he said back to her immediately the moment he processed the word " watered-down"

"Kid, I don't know if you are trying to joke or not but when it comes to swordsmithing, I always strive for the apex, no lesser than that. That thing is hard-wired into my consciousness so don't even expect to make me stoop so low to follow your request." Muramasa said it straight to her without any roundabout.

"But..." Illya tried to speak but the denial started to seep into her words.

"Sorry but I can't do this ridiculous request of yours, you either deal with it yourself or go kill yourself in the attempt to use full-power Muramasa.". Muramasa said straight to her like a boulder flat into her face.

Illya started to cry, she weeps as she doesn't want to face the prospect that she really is useless in the end. Sengo seeing her like this decided that he is too harsh with someone who simply fighting what is beyond their control. If anything, he should have fully understood that even before she said she needed the Muramasa. The swordsmith closed his eyes for a bit before he sighed. And then he decided to oblige her selfish request.

"Fine, I shall then swallow my pride for a bit and oblige with the watered-down Muramasa for you.". Sengo said reluctantly for a bit.

Illya's hope reignited again when Sengo agreed with her request.

"By the way, I just wanted to make sure that the person who is going to receive this Muramasa is a worthy person. So can you tell me who is that person is?" Sengo asked.

"Does fighting in three wars consecutively count?" Illya bluffed sarcastically.

Sengo the moment he heard that bit, he then stood there thinking for a while and then just laughed. Knowing the person who is going to receive it, he surely has no dissatisfaction knowing that the person who is going to receive it will put it into good use, much like how Musashi Miyamoto did.

Afterward, she heard the sounds of a hammer landing on the anvil, the sounds of furnace's flame crackling. The old man puts a lot of his passion and effort into swordsmithing and thus he is easily able to create powerful swords like that. Soon, he finished Illya's request and presents her the watered-down Muramasa she requested.

"Here you go, the Muramasa blade that you asked for. Because I spent less time to forge this blade and thus it is only roughly one-hundredth the power of original Muramasa but considering how powerful the original is, even this thing is on par of a Noble Phantasm. Don't worry, this thing won't kill you for swinging it." Sengo said as he presents to her the katana that edged with the scarlet color of blood.

"Wow! Are you going to send it over now?" Ilya asked.

"What? Do you think a WW2 soldier can use a katana properly? As much as I hate to say this but I am going to send this over to Sion first so that she can make it so that even a modern age scrub can use it to the fullest potential. But nonetheless, I have upheld your conditions so all is fair, okay?" Sengo said to Illya before he is gone from the communicator's camera, soon it just turned off and she then returned to Da Vinci.

"So, how did things go?" Da Vinci asked.

"It's fine, I guess? I got a glimpse of it but I don't know how Sion will modify it at all." Illya said to Da Vinci.

"Who knows, being among the last magus in Wandering Sea pretty much earn her name like that. And plus, isn't she got the authority to use one of the seven weapons that could potentially end the world that we know?" Da Vinci said.

"Da Vinci, we received something from the Wandering Sea. Do you know what this thing is?" Sherlock Holmes said.

"That fast already? Don't worry, Holmes, I'm about to rayshift it over to Illya's location.". Da Vinci said as she quickly moves away from her position.

"Wuh?! How do I even draw a rayshift circle?! I'm not even my Onii-chan or Master, how do I suppose to know?!" Illya said in a panic as she tried to find even a faintest idea of how to even draw a rayshift circle.

"Illya, you know that you can rely on me to do it, right?" Ruby said to her from the behind.

"Thanks for covering me! I just wish that you spent a lot more time being supportive instead of being a pervert and taking pictures of me in the most embarrassing position while my Onii-chan is around." Illya said as if she has no dignity left in her.

"I would very much prefer if you could cut away the rest of the sentence but the first four words but okay, here goes nothing.". Ruby said as she created a piece of mana chalk and draws the rayshift circle on the ground. Soon enough, the moment the circle is completed, it begins to lit instantly and when the light is gone, a sheathed katana is right in the center of it.

The Muramasa, a blade that inherited its maker's violence. The original blade combined with the perfect blend of magecraft and science giving it an ominous and eerie red color as if it bloodlust could control its wielder and turn them into the deadliest swordsman to roam the land. The most important part built into the sheath itself seems to have a magazine poking out of it, Illya unsheathed the thing a bit and checked what is exactly then suddenly sheathes it back again.

"Hey, girls! You seem to be curious about the customized Muramasa in front of all of you, right? Well, let me gives you a quick rundown on this customized blade, shall we?" Sion said enthusiastically.

Illya stood there while waiting for what Sion would say, what she uncovered would definitely have her purged if it weren't for the circumstances that humanity fell into right now.

"From what Muramasa told me, the blade you are holding right now is a downgraded version of the Tsumugari Muramasa which already held immense power on its own. You could swing it around without the fear that it would suddenly kill you. It might not be able to severe karma but it would do short work of anything else really." Sion said with a straight face.

"You know how much you hurt my pride right there, Sion. My swordsmithing isn't just making swords, it is an art and my workshop is its sanctuary. You don't understand each blow that I have given shave to my blades, you don't understand each drop of water I doused on the white-hot steels itself. You basically had no right to say anything about my swordsmithing and-" Sengo gets nearby Sion and then went on with the rant when she said that it might not be able to severe karma.

"But either way, see the magazine poking out of the sheath? I basically custom-tooled the whole thing myself and outfitted it with the most deadly weapon that I could possibly lay my hands on, ladies and gentlemen, the Black Barrel sheath, the same kind of weapon that I applied to Mash's shield so that she can obtain even greater firepower. The general design is the same as always, pull the trigger and its power will allow you to pull a light-quick draw." Sion said while Sengo still went on ranting about her remarks of his blade.

"Uh? Don't you mean lightning-quick?" Illya asked if she heard it wrong or not.

"Nope, I mean it literally. Timing it correctly and you can pull a relativistic unsheathing slash and watch as your opponent splits apart in two. Just hope that your arm is strong enough to withstand the after force, okay?" Sion said as if she literally has nothing further to do with it.

The connection to the Wandering Sea is cut off afterward. Illya can't seem to get what on earth just flew through her mind

"Sion installed the Black Barrel into the sheath itself, one of the seven superweapons capable of destroying the world that we knew. I... I truly have no word" Illya said as the only thing in her mind is just 'WTF'.

Illya then slaps her own face so that she can clear the cloud in her mind. She then gives the sword to Ruby and then commanded it to give it to anyone who might be still alive in the area where the nuclear blast occurred. That chance might be ridiculously slim but she knew that there won't be anyone alive if she declared that nobody is alive anymore. With Ruby moving towards the ground zero with the Muramasa binds into it. However, before Ruby started to truly go, it turned back around to ask.

"Hold on?! Why don't you follow me too?" Ruby asked.

"Look, I am not exactly in the best shape after that fight against the Metal Gear. Hell, I might be more of a weight on you in this current state of mine. About what if there is more enemy came to finish me off, don't worry. I could mask my Spirit Origin signal so that I could stealthily evade them". Illya said confidently albeit tired.

"Understood then.". Ruby said before taking off on her own.

Moving as fast as it can, Ruby when getting closer to the ground zero, she noticed someone right beneath the ruined buildings, quickly moving towards that person, Ruby then checked to see who it is only to find out that it was Desmond who was knocked away right at his first contact with the cyborg. He seems to be alright, for a person who is so close to their death.

"Mr. Desmond, are you okay?" Ruby asked.

Desmond slowly but surely pulling himself up from the ruins that covered till the horizon. Despite looking heavily beaten up, he can still stand on his two feet.

"Yeah, I'm alright... Just... need to get myself up so that I don't stumble from this awkward stance of mine." Desmond said as his movements look awkward due to how badly he got tossed from the blast created from the nuclear fission.

"Are you sure that you're fine because your limping body sure tells me otherwise!" Ruby said to Desmond.

"I'm fine! I have to find my friend, I can't leave him like this." Desmond said to Ruby.

"How can you be so sure that he is still alive? The guy is at ground zero when the detonation happened!" Ruby said as if she denies the absurd possibility of the survival of someone there.

"Trust me, the guy is far tougher than how he let on. Even if he is going to hold a dying star in his hand, he ain't letting it go if he believes it is the right thing to do." Desmond said as he picks up his pace.

Soon, they managed to reach towards the crater where the nuclear blast occurred. Dear lord, it is huge. And surprisingly, Larry is still somehow alive despite being at the literally ground zero when the nuclear detonation happened. If being bombarded with the heat of the sun's core didn't even kill him, just is there anything left on this earth could kill him?!

The cyborg is still on top of him, probably being dazed for right at the ground zero and unable to handle the force of what just happened. Looking at the situation right now, they need to find a way to break Larry free.

"I don't know, the guy doesn't look like he could even stand on his two feet. But should I somehow managed to approach him, I could give him the rapid healing injection that can fix the entire Servant's body as if nothing has happened.". Ruby said with a bit skeptical about whether or not she could get near him without drawing the cyborg's aggro.

"Wait, you have something like that?" Desmond said in surprise.

"It is a special injection that my owner, Illya concocted along with many other Caster Servants. It is mainly used for emergencies like when our Master ran out of Command Seals or things went too hectic for our Master to keep up. Ta-dah, the Deus Ex. One single injection and you're as good as new, it cures literally anything even your fractured body and near-death and fatal conditions." Ruby said as she presents an injection needle out of nowhere and it containing a green fluid inside.

"But there is one thing though, how do we draw the cyborg away?" Ruby said as she ponders before Desmond took the blade that was bind into her.

He unsheathed the blade and the mere sound alone draw the cyborg towards him, it then looked at him as it steps closer.

"Damn it, Desmond! What did you just do!?" Ruby said to Desmond as his rash action just doomed any chance of avoiding it.

"Don't you see it already? This is your chance to get near him, now!" Desmond said as he grabbed Ruby and tossed her right at Larry's motionless body and he then quickly threw the sword along with.

But the cyborg doesn't seem to notice the Muramasa that Desmond has thrown to Larry as it jumped to his position and walking menacingly closer to him. Desmond steps back in fear, he has virtually no means of fighting back, and thus he is ultimately defenseless against it.

The cyborg grabbed him by the throat with its right arm and then grabbed his right arm with its left hand. It started to grip even tighter as if it would disconnect his arm from his body from its sheer gripping strength. As if that wasn't enough, it started to pull his right arm away from his body. The feeling of his muscle being ripped apart from his body makes him screams in pain as it quickly overwhelms his mind.

"Guh..." Desmond wanted to break free of its grip but knowing his weakness, he got no choice but to face what would be the consequence of his action.

His arm was literally ripped off from his body as blood started to leak everywhere. Desmond wanted to scream but his mind was in too great stress for any coherent thought. The pain overwhelmed his vision as blood started to seep into it as everything within him is fallen into disarray. Desmond thought he is going to meet his end here but something suddenly happened.

A crimson slash rends through the back of the cyborg. It then turned back and dropped Desmond into the pool of his own blood and right on his own arm. Larry is back with an even greater vengeance while holding the Muramasa with both of his hands.

The cyborg tried to punch him but the Muramasa deflected them back before it could even land properly. With vigor swirling inside him, all torments relieved, with rebirthed strength of his, he will take down the cyborg with all he has.

The flame inside of him is snuffed but in place of it was nothingness. Larry's eye was empty as if he has nothing but loathe and hatred to the cyborg. To him, that thing dared to harm his friend and thus it got no right to ever sees him fighting evenly with it. He wanted it to die, at all cost!

His mind analyzes every bit of information as fast as it could, cutting down his required reaction time into as low as he could. He focused on how the cyborg could deflect such a strong attack like this until he realized. The hardening of the cyborg's body isn't instantaneous, it required a really small amount of time to transfer whatever is in there that allows such hardening in the required place like that. If he has an attack that could move far faster than how it could transfer those hardening, he will be able to deal damage to it.

"Larry! Use the Black Barrel's trigger!" Ruby tried to tell him about the Black Barrel built into the sheath that he could use.

Even if he isn't going to say anything, he heeds its words regardless. Preparing his stance while waiting for the perfect moment to come, right after he blocked the next swing of the cyborg, he quickly sheathed the blade and then pulled the trigger of the Black Barrel itself. A blast of energy pushed the blade out of its sheath but Larry's grip tightened to the point that the blade will follow where he swings, not where the Black Barrel would take it. In a mere moment alone, the blade cut through the cyborg's arm and its armor like a hot knife through butter as it splatters its blood and seems to start to leak some sort of liquid out of it. It is red but unusually dark as if something is mixed within it.

Ruby takes a closer look into it and then suddenly shuddered as she analyzed and learned how the cyborg was so durable in the first place.

"It's... nanomachines! They invented nanotech ahead of us!" Ruby said in a panic.

It took roughly 36 years after WW2 just for nanotech to finally invented. The Nazi somehow managed to invent this ahead of everything else and using it to the fullest extent if this cyborg means anything.

The cyborg roared and then its severed arm suddenly started to regenerate on its own. It charges toward Larry with the shiv that was created from the severed arm of it but Larry quickly deflected that attack and jumped back into the ground zero crater. The cyborg pursued him and leave the broken mess called Desmond behind. However, Ruby stayed with Desmond to make sure that the guy isn't going into a slow death and try to save him with the best of its capability.

Back to the main focus, the cyborg's arm is completely rejuvenated but it seems that he has also learned something else. There is still a limit to its capability, keep going on and he will prevail.

The cyborg started to direct its nanomachines to go from defensive to full-blown assault. Its body started to have an aura of blood-red matching with his Muramasa. Ever have so much power that you can literally create volcanic eruptions with just your fist alone? That's what that cyborg is about to do.

It punched the ground in the direction towards him and the literal force of the impact created volcanic shockwaves that are rushing towards him. Quickly react as fast as he could, he managed to evade those volcanic waves that moved towards him at subsonic speed. While he is at it, he quickly approaches the cyborg and slashing it with the Muramasa with unbelievably proficiency and skills as if he knows the blade beforehand already.

The cyborg punched the ground directly beneath it and cracks started to form around it and stretched even towards his location. Larry can tell that if he stands right above the crack he will have a face full of magma right into his face and guess what? He was right about getting hit with a volcanic eruption if he did indeed stand on the crack. But the cyborg charged towards him at hypersonic speed during the eruption blast. It used the volcanic blast as a smokescreen in order to make the anticipation of its movements a lot harder to track.

Larry raised his blade and blocked that sudden attack in time, it then follows up with a kick and then a right hook. Each blow also created shockwaves that move with the speed of sound but seeing how Larry still persist, it decided to focus the power into its fist and turned it ablaze, the burning aura vortexing around it is a huge red flag that told Larry to move away from it as fast as possible.

Trusting his instinct, he quickly moves away from the cyborg as fast as he could and then the cyborg punched the ground with its blazing fist. The power of that impact created an array of spirals of flames as they stretched across the whole crater creating a blazing wall that severely limits his moving ground. The cyborg then rushes through the wall of flame as it tries to grab him but Larry moves way too fast for it to catch him.

Using that chance, he quickly chips in some attacks right into the cyborg with his Muramasa while it is still trying to stabilize its stance and quickly try to get away from it when it is about to attack him even more. It then begins to focus the power into its own heart and then discharges all of them at once resulting in a massive aura blast that shook everything with greater power than when it was before when it is still in defensive stances.

Seeing that Larry has gotten away from the blast, it quickly tried to snatch him as it moves with the speed of sound but Larry just sidesteps its charge casually as if that thing is as predictable as the nose on his face. Right when the cyborg is right in front of him, he quick-draw his Muramasa and the lightning-fast crimson slash staggered the thing immediately.

Right when his chance came, he quickly slashes the cyborg as fast and as much as he can. Each blow wasn't just thrown randomly, it was deliberately aimed carefully as if Larry is a master swordsman, not just a soldier who fought through hell.

He then tosses his left shoe into the sky with his left foot and then he tossed the Muramasa along into the sky by a short altitude, he then placed his left hand on the ground with the shoulder positioned right above his wrist. Right when the Muramasa about to land, he catches it right between the toes in his left foot.

And right at that moment, he begins to handstand and started to spin horizontally around himself while the Muramasa that he held by his foot slashes the cyborg repeatedly. Moving with an unreal speed along with an unbelievable dexterity, he is making an airflare technique while still remaining vertical without unnecessary tilting while lashing the Muramasa on the 'cyborg' like a crimson hurricane.

The cyborg got out of its staggering state and Larry quickly break out of his dance afterward. The cyborg became enraged of the prospect that it managed to get hurt and then it started to focus its power into its fist as it sets ablaze. The cyborg then pulls a left hook with the blazing fist on Larry as he raised his blade and blocked the fiery punch itself.

Sparks flying like a volcano erupting when the cyborg's fist impacted on the Muramasa. The cyborg then pouring even more power into its fist as it started to burn brighter like the sun. Unable to keep blocking with the Muramasa, the blade flew off his hand and landed a distance away from him. Larry quickly turned towards the blade then back to the cyborg quickly only to see it is about to pull a right hook on him.

As if the void within his heart managed to get even darker, Larry swung his right arm and locked the shoulder of the cyborg while evading oncoming punch immediately. When things suddenly didn't go to how it expected, the cyborg became confused at what Larry just did and the guy quickly punches the cyborg repeatedly and ruthlessly with each blow could sunder the earth into its side and despite wearing armor, it didn't do anything about the impact that Larry dishing out as fast like his profanity. As if it didn't allocate the nanomachines in time. The shock of pain despite being something completely foreign to it now suddenly become a thing that it was forced to shove down into its nerve. He then lands the finishing blow by swinging his right arm into its face and knocked it back.

The cyborg then roared again when Larry makes a clown out of it and quickly charged its blazing fist and thrown it right into Larry's face. Larry also does the same as he throws his right hook that would follow into a jawbreaker if lined up correctly. Those two about to land their attacks on each other's face, Larry within his milliseconds managed to evade the blazing fist as it grazes slightly on his cheek while his jawbreaker landed a satisfying crushing blow right into the cyborg's face as he can feel something broke inside of it.

The cyborg got launched from Larry's jawbreaker as it slides against the ground. It then stands up back on its two feet before it roared once more in rage as it became clear that it is being played like a fiddle by Larry. It leaped at him and tried to stomp him with its foot, Larry skillfully evaded it as the cyborg's landing immediately caused a massive shockwave that cracked the ground by a large radius. It then begins to punch the ground in the direction towards him so that it can take him out with the volcanic shockwaves while he is still rushing towards the Muramasa.

Swift and agile, he leaps and bound through all of the rushing tides of volcanic flame as the Muramasa is getting far more closer to him. The moment he managed to reach back towards his blade, he quickly raises it back towards the cyborg. The cyborg, however, has a different idea than fighting him closely. It decided to leaps toward the surface area above the crater. It seems to be picking something up, a massive chunk of the earth was forcefully ripped out of the ground and the cyborg is holding it above it.

Larry preparing his stance once again, the burning hatred inside wants the blood of that cyborg to extinguish that burning flame of intense negative emotions that are threatening to burn him apart. His own feral rage is starting to overtake any form of reasoning he has, he stares intently towards the cyborg, wanting to rip it apart with his own hand.

The cyborg threw the chunk of earth towards him at hypersonic speed and Larry swings his Muramasa with such precision at it to the point that the boulder got split into two. He cut one chunk and another just approaching him right behind it. He just slashes through them with a 'just get over it already!" kind of mood that the only thing he felt is angst and loathing. Soon, he cut through 'last' large boulder and right behind it is, surprise surprise... it's the cyborg.

Larry then focuses for a brief moment as he decisively strikes his blade right squarely at the face of the cyborg and thus dazed he cyborg right in the chance that lasts only by a one-thousandth of a second. Taking advantage of the fact that he dazed it, he quickly grabbed it and spins erratically around himself and tossed the cyborg into the crater wall with so much force that the cyborg penetrated through the wall and created a massive hole in it. The hole itself soon collapsed on top of the cyborg in literally a second later and buried the cyborg in its rubble.

And then a blast of shockwave unleashed by the cyborg blown all of those away, the thing is looking mighty pissed because Larry just somehow managed to make it look like even more of a fool than the last one. Rubble falling like rain on this burning ground zero as the cyborg walks toward Larry as the only thing now driving it is feral rage itself.

It rushes toward him even faster than before as it reaches Mach 1000 right in a mere moment, Larry quickly acts when suddenly facing the sudden change itself by blocking with his sword but unfortunately, the force of the cyborg's blazing punch was once again too great that Larry's grip is not enough to keep his blade in his hand as the Muramasa once again got tossed from his hand. Not even he is able to handle the sudden surge of force as he is also got launched away and landed on his back.

Seeing him being in a defenseless position, it then leaps toward him and prepared to stomp on him with all of its might. Larry noticed it quickly and pulled his legs back and launched himself straight towards the cyborg while it is still midair. He quickly planned out a precision strike as he aimed straight into the chest of the cyborg just as when it is about to fall. With his feet strike directly into its chest, he then quickly reposition himself in midair and then he dropkicked the thing right back to the ground. The cyborg then impacted the ground and skidded by a considerable distance.

It quickly gets back on its own two feet and roared at him again, Larry wasted no time but and landed right at where his Muramasa landed. The cyborg then begins to charges toward him as if it wanted to crush him whole. Larry then getting into his crouching stance with his finger right on the Black Barrel trigger, preparing for another quick-draw attack but this time, he has another different idea.

He pulled the trigger and the blast of energy discharged from the Black Barrel pushed the blade forward with the initial acceleration speed of Mach 4000, he then directs the blade upward as its force pulled the cyborg and him upward along with the rending slash itself into the sky above. With the force like a tidal wave and both of them in midair, Larry then slashes the cyborg repeatedly while it was up in the air. He then follows up with one finishing blow with an overhead slash as it strikes the cyborg down into the ground again. That single powerful upward slash is called 'Tidal Wave' if Larry would think of a name for it in the first place.

Larry landed a bit away from where the cyborg landed. With an impact that cracked the ground once more, the cyborg then pulled itself up once more and roared once again. There is no form of coherent reasoning remain within it, it is pure distilled rage and wrath that seems to be driving it right now. Its attacks became more savage and ruthless as it wanted Larry dead as much as Larry wants the cyborg dead. As it started to trade even more tactic-based power into raw power alone, it is started to become more of a berserker than anything else and even Berserkers class Servants aren't this level of madness except for the chosen few when met up with some niches.

And of course, it is also meant that its surroundings awareness started to be hampered from the sheer rage of itself. It couldn't even tell if Larry is behind it or at its flank. Sheer raw strength alone isn't the answer for every type of combat and Larry is a man of both strength and tactic from what he displayed for everyone else. From such predictable attacks even at close quarters, Larry easily evaded them and flank all of it easily.

The moment he got to its back, he placed his hand on the trigger again and prepared for another power move of his. This time, he will invent another one if it required. He pulled the trigger once more and the Black Barrel activated itself and discharged a blast of energy in order to push the blade forward at lightning speed, literally.

With a swing of his blade, a torrent of crimson slashes move straight towards the cyborg and rends through it as it tore through its body apart. Larry's guess was right, there is indeed a limit to how much the nanomachines can handle. Through heavily sustained combat like this, the power of the nanomachines without a doubt will be exhausted eventually and thus open it to be vulnerable to attacks that it has otherwise found impervious to.

The cyborg roared once again and it leaped towards the surface area. Ripping out a chunk of earth and hold it above its head. Same stuff from before, just cutting down them all and strikes directly at its face when it came charge at him right behind those chunks of earth. Larry slashes those chunks of earth easily but their speed started to mount even faster than before, if he could make a guess, those chunks of earth are moving at 1% of Speed of light. The fact that he could slash them down with sheer concentration of his willpower alone tells just how highly reflexive he is. Focusing his mind to even slash one boulder is already putting a great strain into his mind but his willpower kept him going even in the worst possible state.

He cut through the last chunk and the cyborg is right behind it, prepared to turn him into a bloody paste when it expects him to be heavily mentally stressed. It rights about one thing, he is stressed, that is true. But there is one thing though, it wasn't his limit yet! Larry strikes the cyborg right into the face with his Muramasa and dazed it once again. The moment it gets near to him, Larry then catches it and quickly spin around and threw it into the crater wall, again. The impact was so powerful that the cyborg caved into the wall by a huge degree that the whole thing soon collapsed on it.

The cyborg then unleashed a huge blast of shockwave once again as it the blast tossed all of the rubble into the air. The thing tried to approach Larry but the damage it sustained is too grievous for optimal combat. The warning inside it keeps blaring about how critically damaged it was but the cyborg has lost all sense of sane reasoning and now are just madness incarnated.

It rushes towards him, prepared to swing its blazing fist at Larry. Larry meanwhile calmly raises his blade to overhead and closes his eyes while controlling his breathing while that cyborg rushing in like a bullet train without stopping. Right when it is about to swing, Larry casually deflects it to the point that the very thing he finds himself struggling against is suddenly like a child-play to him. The cyborg staggered when its blazing punch was deflected and when it looked at Larry again, it roared and quickly using the other arm to punch him. Larry in which response by causally deflect the other blazing punch with such casualness that it is impossible to believe.

The thing staggered once more and then roared like a starving beast as it rushes towards him as if wanting to eat Larry alive. Larry then quickly opened his eyes and pulled the Black Barrel trigger and quickly letting the blade loose on his opponents. In a mere moment alone with Larry's arm moving so fast that it became afterimage, he landed multiple slashes on the cyborg that he loses count the moment he even tried to count how much he slashes. Staggered from the barrage of slashes it went through, Larry then charges forward with the Muramasa and impaled it with his blade.

The blade punctured through its gut and blood floods out like a geyser. The cyborg's combat stress has started to heavily hamper its combat effectiveness to the point that a simple gut stab managed to harm it. It looked down at the Muramasa now punctured through its gut, it then roared once more and then swung both of its arms at Larry as if to crush Larry's throat apart. Larry then uses both of his hands in order to grab both of its arms. Like an uncontested test of will, both the cyborg and Larry refused to yield but Larry decided that this battle needs to end decisively and thus he headbutts the cyborg with great force that it became dazed and falling back.

Taking advantage of it being stunned, he pulled the blade out and then aims carefully at one certain location that he could guess to be the weakness. Larry noticed the bulging part of its chest that seems to be beating heavily and thus he swings his Muramasa repeatedly right at it and soon the moment he cut through the flesh, a blinding light shines out of it. Seeing that his chance to finish the cyborg for once and for all come, he quickly burst through it with his right hand into the wound and managed to touch something in there.

He then put all of his strength into his right hand and then forcefully ripped out its heart with its 'arteries' along with it while still connects to the cyborg The heart is without a doubt mechanical creation and made specifically in the laboratory. Without any sheds of caring left, he puts all of his strength into the palm that is holding the beating 'heart' of the cyborgs and then crushed it with all of his might.

The moment he did so, he created a massive geyser of blood that was so much that it reached towards the sky, painting the whole ground zero in its blood. Larry still holding the remains of the crushed heart and watches as the cyborg fell to the back. It is dead, no doubt about it. And then azure flame started to erupt from the chest wound then started to spread from there. Larry drops the crushed heart away when the azure flame started to reach his palm. Like witnessing Ragnarok once more, his eyes are still as uncaring of what he did towards the cyborg as he stares at the burning carcass of it in contempt. Soon, the whole body dissipated into ashes and that is only when Larry would then turn away.

The void within his heart disappeared, with no reason left to cling onto his hatred and loathing, the life returned to his eyes, and then he realized about one thing, his friend. He then quickly jumped towards back the surface area and looked for his friend. He then sees a figure with a flying wand in his sight and then quickly approach them.

Just like what he expected, it is Desmond and there is Ruby who is flying alongside him. By some miraculous fate, Ruby somehow managed to reattach Desmond's ripped arm back into him.

"Thank god that you're okay! Does your arm working properly?" Larry asked his friend.

"Thanks for this wand over there that I don't have to use another prosthetic to replace my lost right arm, you know? And of course that my right arm can still move properly although I felt really weird to lost something then suddenly have it back like this.". Desmond said to his friend.

Both of them then give each other the bro hug while Ruby makes sighing noise. Despite the bloody battle just unfolded, Larry has managed to overcome the largest hurdle, for now. Is everyone alright? That they can't tell but they knew that if Larry can make it through then he believes that everyone else can.

And so onward, onto the final 'death sentence'.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Twin Blades of Heaven**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

Everyone else in the group who wasn't separate from each other is now landing right at one certain point. Where? Who knows? But one thing is for sure though is that this time, they won't be as man-power lacked unlike the rest from before. But that might mean a bigger hurdle to overcome that everyone has to act accordingly with each other if they wanted to survive.

"Master! Reach for my hand!" Shirou said to his Master.

Gudao quickly glided himself through the air and managed to grab his Servant's hand as he then pulled him closer and quickly changed his stance into bridal carrying. Gudao looked around and saw Kuro, Pierce and Richard who are flying in the same direction as him.

Gudao then looked forward and then sees that he is reaching the ground. Shirou landed gracefully without even damaged the ground. His sister is the same too. Richard also did the same while piggyback carrying Pierce.

All of them have landed safely but something doesn't feel right to them. A vast empty plain surrounded by dense fog, if the rain didn't hinder their vision enough, now this fog started to add more fuel to the flame. But even if their eyes can't tell anything, the overwhelming presence told that they should be prepared.

All of the Servants present here raised their weapons, they don't particularly know who they will be fighting against but they knew that whatever it is, it is no simple enemy.

"Shirou, use your Hawkeye to see if there is anything hidden here, check the ground even if you have to.". Gudao told one of his Servants.

Shirou heeding his Master's command, his eye turned into the color of cold steel as he gazed into anything that he may find suspicious. Before he actually finds anything though, they were suddenly hit with a tremor that shook the whole place. Cracks started to appear on the plain as if something is rising from within it.

"Everyone! Move!" Gudao said as he warned everyone of the imminent danger.

The cracks started to move faster towards them and the ground started to collapse. Soon, the collapse started to reach them and the ground they are running on also suffer the same fate. Servants, however, don't follow what is humanly impossible to dictate them as they started to scotchhop along the broken ground that is falling. Shirou grabbed his Master since it is impossible for him to keep up with something like this. Pierce activated his grappling hook and fired it towards the edge that he assumed to be safe. His Servant despite his appearance is also unusually agile that he could keep up with Shirou and Kuro.

Soon, they all together got on the safe ground. No more collapse but when they looked back at where was once an empty plain is now replaced with a huge hole and coming out of it is a...

"Metal Gear..." Kuro mumbled as she witnesses its absolute size.

How do they describe this? Shirou's Hawkeye allows him to analyzes anything with perfect detail as long as his mental capacity allows. The thing is hexapedal with additional armaments built into its front. The two plasma cannons on top and the two retractable thermal blades built into it. The thing is set on autopilot and there is no cockpit at all inside and thus they can assume there is no other enemy Servant are present at all. One more thing, it is huge, so huge that the first one they fight looks like a toddler compares to this.

But there is one question now, how do they exactly beat it? The latest encounter with a Metal Gear is pretty much a disaster with no words to describe how bad things would have turned out if all their cards weren't aligned properly. This is like trying to punch a steel wall when you can't even lift your own fist.

But just what is exactly anything left for them? There is no running but only to step forward. To runs toward hell even if it is the last place you wanted to be in.

"Everyone? Prepare to combat!" Gudao commanded his Servants to fight.

**_Words of God: _**_**For this part, play Strike Force Heroes - Rose at Midnight**_

The reason that he can't join is that if Servant can't even fight the Metal Gear properly, just what is exactly the chance that he could do so? The same thing applies to Pierce, as powerful as his armor is, he has no suitable armaments in order to deal any meaningful and will only hinder the Servants if joined.

Both Shirou and Kuro joined the fray, Richard takes out his Gatling Gun and prepared to aim at it. The Metal Gear then proceeds to roar and then begins to attack them.

Protruding its blades, it then begins to prepare to raise its blades up as it flashes with a light that pierces through the fogs before it slammed down on them. Richard just simply getting out of its range and then fires his Gatling Gun towards it and the siblings do the same but all of them just bounce off the armor plating on collision.

The Metal Gear then slams it dual blades into the ground with such force that it is surprising that the ground is still intact from that slam. Both Shirou and Kuro narrowly avoided getting hit by the blades and they realized that those thermal edges are stuck into the ground. Both Shirou and Kuro take advantage of this moment and quickly slash their Kanshou and Bakuya into the thermal edge. Applying all of their combat skills with the twin blades, they quickly landed many attacks on quick succession while not wasting any of their movements. But despite all of it, they don't seem to do any real damage at all.

The blades started to lift up and then repositioned themselves into the side before sweeping from side to side. The siblings and Richard noticed and quickly jumped through the gaps between the blades and with only a hairbreadth left to getting hit. It then started to sweep its blade to the side once more and they once again jump through. Both Pierce and Gudao look in anticipation as tensions started to scale exponentially that they can't believe it the battle that is unfolding in front of them.

Raising its blade once more, the Metal Gear then slams them into the ground with the force that would embed them into the ground. Fortunately, everyone managed to avoid getting hit by that attack, and the sibling once again rushes in order to attack the thermal edges with all they could. But even then, it seems like they are only grinding the blade against the thermal edges and not actually damaging at all. Shirou felt the frustration started to pent up inside and then decided to use one technique that he self-improvised for Kanshou and Bakuya.

_Trace Overedge!_

With the twin blades turn into the wings of angel and demon, he then slashes the thermal edge on his side as hard as he could. With one single rending slash, the blade then dissolved into glass fragments and then dissipates into the thin air. He then looks at where he used the Overedge blades and then the sudden revelation slapped him into the face as if it tries to tell him that things have truly gone with his favor.

The blades, it did pierce through the thermal edges. If none of his normal attacks could work then this is the only chance they could have at dealing the real damage. Quickly connecting to his sister telepathically, he quickly tried to advise her.

"Kuro! Use the Overedge! it might be the only way to inflict actual damage!" Shirou told his sister.

Kuro upon hearing what her brother has to say. She quickly then pulls multiple slashes within just minimal body movements alone and then proceeds to change her stance so that she can follow up with a rising slash of Overedges.

_Trace Overedge!_

She then slashes the thermal edge of the Metal Gear upward and looked down to see the damage she inflicted with that slash is far more visible than any of her last attempts.

The Metal Gear received the damage feedback and then retracting its blades back, it then positioned itself and then placed one of its foot right in front of Shirou and Kuro. Right at that moment. the sibling rushed towards its foot and then quickly slashes it as fast and hard as they could but they don't know if there is anything that is actually registered into its feet or not but if they manage to sever the foot away, they would destabilize it one by one and slowly.

But like literally anything that was built as the armor of this particular Metal Gear, not even the feet of it could be damaged without resorting to powerful attacks like the Overedge blades. Within his rapid attacks on the Metal Gear's foot, he finds that keep retracing his Overedge for only one powerful attack is just inefficient to him, it is powerful but it would shatter within one attack. He needs something, something that he has enough fundamental understanding of, something that holds a special place in his heart and mind.

Within that lapse of memory, he saw something inside of his long-forgotten memory. The first blade that King Arthur used, the first weapon he managed to trace perfectly and used it to the fullest extent he capable of. Right at that moment, he grasps toward its reach and holds it with his own hand. The blade started to shine brightly as it illuminates the darkness within his mind.

_Caliburn_

And then formed within his hand is an ornate golden sword with inscriptions written into the blade. A sword that represented a king's authority. It is weaker than the Excalibur but not as mana consuming like it. The weapon is lost in proper history and to be never seen again but Shirou's vision of it when he first found it through Artoria's memory managed to recreate it to the borderline of perfection. That's how he managed to trace the first sword and he keeps going like that for what would span to be an eternity for who knows how long.

But now, Shirou charging the blade up with his mana as it started to shine brightly. He then swung it with all of his might at the Metal Gear's foot and watch as the blade cleaves through its armor platings easily to the point that it puts up no resistance at all. The sword sears a burning wound into its feet and the damage that the Caliburn inflicted is so great that the feedback overwhelmed the Metal Gear's logic drive. The thing suddenly staggers and then ceased to move.

"Kuro! This is your chance!" Shirou told his sister.

The sister nodded, she then leaps and threw two pairs of twin swords at the leg below the knee joint. The blade intersected right at the lower part of the leg and then branched out from there. She then leaps toward it while holding another pair of twin swords that she projected the moment she landed on the ground. Putting the pair in her hand to overhead and the two pairs that she threw are now returning towards the leg once again. Right at that moment, she chanted.

_Trace Overedge_

And at that moment, the two pairs that she threw along with the one that she held over her head turned into the amalgamation of wings of angels and demons. All six blades collide on the feet of the lower leg at the same time as they ripping the armor plating apart and caused huge internal damage from the sheer impact alone that the leg is as good as crippled. All six blades then shatter into glass fragments and dissipate into the thin air.

Even if the foot isn't going anywhere, it would still be going to support the Metal Gear. They knew what to do next, to severe the entire leg away.

"Kuro! Now!" Shirou said to his sister as he runs along the crippled leg of the Metal Gear.

Kuro followed him and running just right behind. They then reached the knee joint and jumped over it and they together chant their spell simultaneously at the same time

_Spirit and technique, flawless and firm_

They together threw a massive amount of Kanshou and Byakuya right at the same time. The amount that they threw at that one time alone exceeds hundreds and they are about to intersect at the 'thigh' of the Metal Gear at once. Just before they did so, they chanted once more at the same time.

_Our strength rips the mountains_

_Our swords split the water_

_Our name reached the imperial villa_

All of those thrown Kanshou and Bakuya instantly turned into their Overedge version right before collisions. Right in the next moment, the Overedged blades shred through the armor platings like nothing before all of them then shatters into glasses once they fulfilled their duty. With the armor plating gone, its thigh exposed and vulnerable to damage. Shirou then grabbed his sister by her ankles as Kuro then traced another pair of Kanshou and Bakuya and hold them over her head. Pushing all of their strength once more into each other, they chanted the final verse in that poem.

**_Two of us can't hold the heavens together_**

The Kanshou and Bakuya she is wielding turned into the wings of angel and demon once more as both of their strength combined and its saturated power cleaved through the thigh effortlessly without any external help. With one of its legs gone, its foundation became unstable as it tilted and collided headfirst into the ground ahead of it. The sibling meanwhile landed safely and quickly rushes toward the head of the Metal Gear so that they can inflict as much damage as they could.

With their blades rends through the head while Richard just keeps shooting at it point-blank with his Gatling Gun. All of them are trying to cause as much damage to its terminal as possible since it might be able to reposition itself once rebooted. The Metal Gear then creaking with sounds as it pulled itself back up. Before it could get up high enough, Richard aware of what it is trying to do and thus decided to give it one parting gift.

"Oh, no you don't!" Richard said before he whips out a bundle of dynamite out of his jacket.

He then ignites them and impales it right into the 'eye socket' of the Metal Gear. Or more exactly, the external sensor of itself. The dynamites then detonate and blew open the head apart but it doesn't seem to falter at all. It roared once more as it started to activate its two plasma cannons mounted on top of it. However, that isn't the worse of it yet. Something emerged from the cliff and it seems to be a pair of quadrupedal mechanoids of sorts.

Shirou then used his Hawkeye in order to analyze them as they lunged towards him. Within that brief span of less than a second, he managed to obtain the majority of the information around them.

They are a full mechanized canine-based mechanoid, cladding entirely in highly-enchanted steel with something mixed into it, he won't attempt to analyze it unless he risks what would happen to Alfin would apply to him. Its bone-crushing jaw could crush an entire Servant torso into a bloody pulp if not handled correctly.

After attaining what he needed, he then quickly fall back and traced his bow and fired at it with a Caladbolg right off the bat. The collision that occurred afterward pushed the thing back by a good distance back to the cliff but not enough to kill it. There aren't enough ground between him and them so that he could charge his shot properly.

"Onii-chan! Look out!" Kuro said to her brother.

Shirou noticed the plasma cannon has completed its charging and then quickly fired the cannon right at the ground ahead of its. Shirou managed to skillfully evade the attack and Kuro and Pierce pulled each of their respective Master out of danger. Those full-metal canines, however, weren't as fortunate and got evaporated by the plasma cannons that the Metal Gear used.

Right after that, the cannons became overheated and it then switches back to the thermal blades afterward. It then repeats the same pattern of attacking with the thermal blades that they have seen from the beginning. But this time, they won't be struggling anymore, they knew what to do now. Using only Overedges to attack, they make each blow with those blades count. If that wasn't enough, they resort to Caliburn which does a good job of dealing enough damage to cleaves through the thermal edges effectively. But before they could use it for long, the Caliburn dispelled itself after roughly a minute due to it is not supposed to exist in the twentieth century.

With enough damage sustained on the thermal lades, the Metal Gear then proceeds to reposition itself and placed one of its feet on the ground that the sibling and Pierce are standing on. Shirou and Kuro rush toward it first and then tries to slash it as many times and as fast as they could. The Metal Gear, however, decided to not stand still and it pulls its foot up before stomping the ground, causing a quake that disbalance everyone beneath.

Getting back to their stance quickly and lunges toward its feet once more but this time, they won't let the Metal Gear keep acting like whatever it likes. Both of them traced the Caliburn with one in each of their hands. The blades started to shine brightly as they pump their mana into it as much as they could. Right at the moment that they got close, they together cleave through the foot of the Metal Gear in an X-shaped pattern as the sheer power alone courses through its foot and towards everything else and overwhelmed its logic drive.

Shirou then threw a pair of Kanshou and Bakuya and the pair of blades fly towards the lower leg and intersected right there, but of course, it didn't make any dent on the platings but it still moves towards the back and then returned once more. He then jumped towards it and traced another pair of Kanshou and Bakuya and put it in the overhead position.

_Trace Overedge!_

He then put all of his might into the blades he held in his hand as they strike into the lower leg of the Metal Gear right at the same time that the thrown Kanshou and Bakuya intersects at where he throws them towards in the first place. With the power of Overedge being used to its fullest potential, the blades cleave through the armor plating with no resistance.

Smashing apart the lower leg and crippled it, Shirou then quickly running along the crippled leg and traced another pair of Kanshou and Bakuya in his hand and once he reached the knee joint, he made a huge leap of faith and turned the blades into Overedge version as he reached the terminal height of his jump. Just as when he is about to dive right down, he connected the pommels of each of his twin swords as the weapons became a dual-bladed melee staff of heaven and hell. Dark energy radiates from the blade as the vision of the memory of his alternate self started to flood into his mind as they overlap his vision.

**_Soaring Heaven!_**

Braving through them as he focuses his mind towards one goal alone, his determination clears away the shadow of his doubt and uncertainty as he slams the melee staff on its thigh and severed it in mere instant alone with a single whirl of light and darkness. Not even its armor plating prevented it from happening as another leg of it then falls into the fiery pit of hellfire below. Shirou then jumps on from the severed leg as he makes his way out of the pit. He managed to use it, the blade that belongs to the version of him that he scorns the most without suffering too greatly from it. No corruption, no broken limp, nothing... He moved beyond the worst possibility of him and done so without any harm.

With its two frontal legs gone, the Metal Gear loses its balance and crash head-on with its face first. Seeing that their chance of putting an end to it came close, Shirou and Kuro then grabbed it by one of its thermal blades, intending to lift it out of the pit itself. Severing the legs isn't enough, they need to destroy the mainframe. Considering that it was in the middle of that pit with no ground for them to reach.

"Master! Give us the power!" Shirou told his Master.

Without any hesitation, Gudao channeling mana into his right arm as the red seal on his hand started to shine brightly.

"By the power of my Command Seals. Shirou and Kuro! Takes down the Metal Gear with all the strength you had!" Gudao said as he shows the seal on his hand for everyone else to see.

The Command Seals on Gudao's shined brightly before snuffed away along with a good portion of the seal itself. He expended two out of three seals he has. Although he can recharge one per day, using it precariously can have dire consequences when it is truly needed.

Vigor swirling through the sibling's bodies, their strength suddenly boosted to sky-high to the point that they are comparable to Berserker Servants. With newfound strength within their limited time, both Shirou and Kuro let out their cries as they lift the entirety of the Metal Gear that might weight millions of times greater than them from its thermal blade and then tossed it aside like a piece of junk. The moment the Metal Gear crash-landed, it raised a huge dust cloud that reached the sky.

Still holding on to the thermal blade, both the sibling then tried to pull the blade itself out of the Metal Gear. Feeling their muscle tender ripping apart from the sheer strength they weren't meant to have. They cried together in unison as the next pull ripped the thermal blade out of the Metal Gear as it flings into the air and then both Shirou and Kuro catch it in time. The thermal blade that they are lifting right now is 30 times bigger than them and through their teamwork, Shiou and Kuro somehow managed to use it as a weapon as the Metal Gear swung its other blade at them.

"Left swing!" Shirou said as both of them swing the thermal edge in the left direction to block the Metal Gear's swing.

A blast occurred the moment two blades collide on each other which pushes each other back by a considerable distance. Regather their stance, they prepared the blade on top of the head and prepared for another swing.

"Right swing!" Kuro said this time and both of them swing the thermal edge in the right direction.

Another collision soon followed up and created an explosion that shook the atmosphere to its core. Both the sibling getting tired of swinging this thing repeatedly but they knew that they have no choice left on the matter.

The Metal Gear swing at them once more and the sibling quickly swings the thermal edge once more at it. They collided with each other and sparks created from the clash between them are falling like rain as both sides refuse to yield no matter what. The siblings cry in agony as their bodies are being pushed to beyond the limit of what they were meant to be.

Their cry echoes into the surroundings as their conviction started to put its feet down and helped them to push forward no matter what. The thermal edge that both Shirou and Kuro are using slowly being pushed towards closer to the Metal Gear more and more. And with the final push, the blade slits through the opponent's edge and slides right into its arm and severed the other blade from it right afterward.

With nothing else to attack with, it then started to charge up its plasma cannons so that it could erase the siblings out of this world. Seeing the contingency of the situation, Shirou and Kuro quickly heave the thermal sword once more and this time, they prepare for an upward slash. Swinging the sword quickly, the blade cleaves through the ground itself as it quickly reaching towards the Metal Gear.

The collision impact happened right just before the Metal Gear fired its plasma cannons and quickly disrupt the flow of energy and the unfired energy discharged in an unsafe way and blew the entirety of the plasma cannons apart. Being suddenly flung upward into the sky, it helplessly swinging its limps around as the thought of anything can toss it into the sky is unfathomable in the first place.

Both Shirou and Kuro then drop the thermal sword and then quickly rushing towards its location, right when they are right below it, they jumped together towards it. Shirou grabbed his sister by her arm and threw her upward so that she can receive a boost from him. Flying at godspeed towards the Metal Gear, she turned around and prepared for one decisive strike. When the chance comes, she quickly pulled a roundhouse kick squarely into the Metal Gear's surface with such force that it became heavily dented just from the sheer impact alone. The sheer force applied also pushed the Metal Gear once more sky-high into the air, the shockwave resulted from the impact cleared the entire area surrounding her of a radius of 100m.

Just this alone isn't enough, she needs to rack it up even more but she can't even reach her brother from below there. She needs something that can allow her to reach her brother. Something...

A sudden line of thought flashed through her mind. Reaching towards the land of blades within her mind and search for anything that she could use. Something that caught her attention, something belongs to the first Heroic Spirit. A chain flashes beneath the moonlight as it soars through the wind. The world that she inherited from her brother's ability. Although she can't bring her inner world out like her brother but she very much can still access the place and look for anything she needs.

Grabbing the chain and shifting her mind back to reality, with the very thing in her hand. She threw it towards her brother while it extends itself indefinitely.

_Enkidu!_

The Chain of Heaven, the weapon that was made by the Divine to supposedly chain down Gilgamesh when he rebelled against the Divine. However, Enkidu himself was befriended by Gilgamesh and became the best bud who fight and enjoys life together. The chain has higher effectiveness against those who have Divinity but can still be used against non-Divine Servants.

Shirou grabbed the chain when it reached him and Kuro yanked the chain towards her and pulled him up. With her help, he is now reaching towards the falling Metal Gear again, and this is his chance to follow up. Preparing his stance once more, he somersaults kick the Metal Gear with a force that is equal to what Kuro did. With its falling once again altered and just keep flying even higher.

Shirou traced the 'Enkidu' once more and this time is to pull his sister up so that she can continue to chain the Metal Gear up. Rinse and repeat. At this point, the Metal Gear looks more like a hunk of junk that an actual weapon of mass destruction, having been stripped off all of its combat armaments, the thing can only wait for its death.

Both Shirou and Kuro are now falling but this will be their final blow. Using the chain of Enkidu once more. This time, they will fire them towards the thermal edge that was left on the ground until now. Using all of the strength they could muster, they pulled those things toward them instead of pulling themselves toward it. With the huge thermal blades moving towards them, one for each sibling. They together swing them at the Metal Gear as it is falling with as much force as they could inhumanely gather.

The thermal blades cleave through the Metal Gear in an X-shaped pattern and in the next moment, the Metal Gear split into parts as they falling down towards the ground. The moment they landed, they exploded violently into smithereens and soon it just burning wreckage remain in the aftermath.

The siblings landed on the ground, although... it was a rough landing. They used all of their last ounce of strength just to make sure that they could take down the Metal Gear at all costs. They lay there on the crater that was created from the landing impact and everyone quickly comes to check if they are alright.

"Archer! Do you repeat!?" Gudao told his Servant.

No answer, both of them lie there while completely motionless. No signs of fading, their Spirit Origins are still stable if he can tell from their condition. Richard jumped in and check their pulse and he can confirm that they are still fine. It is just that they pushed themselves too far that they dwindled their mana reserve.

"What do we do now?" Gudao said.

"We wait, carrying them while they are still unconscious will be just a hindrance for us.". Pierce said.

Their hands are tied, although they made it out of the predicament, it isn't without a price. Having two fewer Servants in combat-capable condition means that they can't risk themselves to get out of this place either. Stuck in a place that is in nowhere without any means to check if things are alright or not. They felt anxious, knowing what could happen to their other allies who are separated from them.

All bets are on, all those who are separated are safe... for now.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Extraction Pursuit**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

"Alfin!? What just happen!?" Arnold said as a burst of gale suddenly encroach him while he attempts to stand his ground.

"I don't know! There's something really unusual about this gale like it was artificially made!" Alfin said while trying to keep herself from being blown away by the gust.

They stood together who knows how long, the fact that they didn't get blown away by it is a miracle in itself. Soon, the gust died down and things returned to silence.

"What happened?" Alfin said as she finds it confusing to have a sudden gust like that.

"I don't know but we are still fine regardless. Don't forget that we have two suspects to pursue.". Arnold said before he continues running.

Alfin also follows him too, she can't brush it off her mind that something isn't fine happened. But knowing that she went too far to return, she decided to moves forward and no turning back.

_**Words of God: **_**_ For this part, play Raze 3 - The Meeting_**

Running on top and jumps from each ruined building. She noticed that the Azure Soldiers have also somehow appeared suddenly without being detected like just appeared randomly without anything to tell ahead.

"Combat initiating, prepares your weapon, now!". Arnold said as he drew out his magnum revolver.

Alfin preemptively draws out her STG-44 although she has far stronger weapons, using unnecessarily excessive firepower will only make things more detrimental than it already is.

"Jump!" Arnold said as he leaps from the rooftop of a building and collided through the wall of the next building that he jumped into and create a hole through it.

Alfin also followed him and jumped into the same hole on the wall. Running across the abandoned hallway within this rundown building, she noticed that some Azure Soldiers are present here and they opened fire as soon as they noticed them. Arnold uses the magnum revolver and aimed carefully while still running at full speed. Within the time frame of as little as a thousandth of a second, he blasted all of their heads with his revolver before they could react in time.

Seeing a dead end in front of him, Arnold still charges forward and burst through the wall itself and jumped towards the next building. Alfin just simply do whatever he does because it seems that he is more knowledgeable when it comes to this kind of pursuing combat like this.

Alfin leaps through the hole and across the gap between two buildings, Arnold who is running ahead of her told her to look forward. She heeds his words and noticed that the two targets that they are pursuing right now are moving away from them.

"We need to pick up the pace!" Arnold said as he picks up his speed and runs even faster.

This time, what is ahead of him is a huge road with a width of 40m and they looked down only to find that the fog blocked their vision and they can't seem to discern where the ground is or how high they are right now. If he makes any mistake, it will cost him precious time. Gathering all of his might into his feet, he jumped all the way across the 40m and landed right on the other side. Alfin also follows suit and tried to do the same. At first, it seems that she will make it alright but she started to slow down and begins to fall right before she reached the other side.

Arnold noticed that she is going to fall to the bottom and quickly grabbed her hand before she falls toward the ground. After pulling Alfin up, both of them sighed in relief that things could have turned very bad if she falls.

"Dear Lord that you're alright. I wouldn't imagine what would happen if you fall." Arnold said as he sweeps the dust of her dress.

Now that he thinks about it, she was more of an authority-like person rather than that a soldier who fights directly on the frontline. It is obvious that she won't be that agile in the first place. He thinks about it more carefully and decided on one thing.

"Alfin? Why don't you climb onto my back? Your firepower would help me tremendously and I could easily cover your mobility weakness." Arnold suggests her as he crouched for her to climb onto.

Not even a word of protest, she just nodded in agreement before climbing onto his back so he could piggyback her. After climbing onto Arnold's back, Alfin held onto him tightly so that she won't accidentally fall off. Arnold then checks to see if she secured herself and once he ascertains it, he quickly continues running as if nothing happened.

Running through another ruined building. This time the amount of enemy concentrated here is staggering, there is no running through in one piece. It also begs him the question that how on earth did those two can mobilize their troops so fast like that in random places like this. How they managed to know well where he is running is also a mystery that he can't answer.

"Concentrated enemy unit spotted, firefight imminent. Prepare to engage!" Arnold said as he running across the large hallway that is filled with all of this kind of enemy.

Alfin focused her power and her eyes turned into the color of ember, she seems to channel something as he can feel a presence of power can be felt approaching them. The Azure Soldiers who stayed on guard for this entire time then proceeds to open fire towards him. There is no evading in a tight environment like this, that's what he thought until...

Something pierced through the floor itself which seems to be two obelisks made entirely of pure concentrated steel. Those pillars actually blocking all of their attacks and both Alfin and Arnold split up and take cover behind the pillar.

"Enemy units encountered. They are armed with automatic weapon and shotguns, take caution!" Alfin said as she seems to be able to discern what the enemy is using without even look at them.

Arnold switched out for his shotgun and begins to fire from behind the cover, the shrapnel from each of is shot pierces into them and the closest ones that are nearby taking the damage. Alfin meanwhile throws the gun in her hand into the air and controlled it telepathically for herself so that she won't need to risk peeking out of her cover.

*BOOM!* An explosion occurred right at the pillar that Arnold took cover, he is fine and the polar still stood but seeing the damage inflicted, he knew that they are serious about packing serious firepower right now.

"Alfin! One of them has explosive weapons! We need to do something about this now!" Arnold said as he still fires his shotgun from the cover.

Alfin heeds his words about the emergence of the situation. She then took out the weapon that was made from the collaboration with Pierce and Larry, the Final Conda. Controlling it telepathically as it floats in midair and moving out of the pillar's cover, she then firing them as the blazing hail of molten explosive ballistics sweeps out the entire hallway they were in. They knew they should have been much more decisive from the beginning but who knows the extend of what those Azure Soldiers can do?

The moment that Arnold can assure that the place is secured, Alfin jumped onto his back again and they together running through the hallway and escaped the building once more. Seeing that they are getting closer to the duo that they pursued. Both Arnold and Alfin together then rushes toward them so that they can catch them immediately. Well, if it was that simple, to begin with.

The duo then leaped from the building and it seems that they are about to jump into the next one if that is what they could guess. But, the duo instead of bursting through the wall and keeps running on whatever floor they are about to enter, they decided to do something else. That spiked hair Servant plunges his feet into the wall and then running on it by plunging his feet deep enough to create cracks across the wall itself. The shit-eating grin one then used his two knives in his belt and plunged them into the wall and climbed against the wall quickly with it. Both of them are doing fast enough that both Arnold and Alfin can't believe what they are doing.

"Follow them!" Arnold said as he leaps toward the wall and tried to use his pickaxe to climb against the wall itself.

The spiked hair SS turned his head back and noticed that Arnold and Alfin are trying to pursue him and his buddy and thus he decided to whip out his assault rifle and placed his hand on the foregrip. Suddenly, a sight sprung open from the side of the gun as if the just triggers something. Without further ado, he fired the underslung attachment below the assault rifle's barrel.

Arnold squints his eyes to see what it is exactly and soon he got the answer immediately afterward. A rocket, a rocket is moving at hypersonic speed and flying straight into his face. With his body acted on its own and let go of the grip he has on the building and started to fall, the spiked-hair SS then pressed something again and the rocket detonated by itself resulted in a huge explosion with its fireball almost reached Arnold had he not let go fast enough. The SS and his buddy then proceed to move on without caring to check if it actually got Arnold or not.

"Damn it!" Alfin groaned as she quickly fired a blazing chain as it quickly reaches toward the hole on the building's wall that was created from the SS Assault's rocket.

The moment the chain latched, it quickly pulled both of them up towards the hole, Arnold looked up and sees that the duo is also entering the building from a much higher floor. He also noticed that his pickaxe his hanging by itself from the ledge nearby the hole and the moment he reached it, he used one of his hand and grabbed it as soon as he could.

The moment his feet landed on the floor, he begins to charge forward through the dark hallway. Who knows how large this building is but he knew that the enemy duo is right above him right now. He gazed into Alfin's eye and she nodded in understanding. Focusing the mana flow inside her, she quickly created 8 MG42 in quick succession in a single moment and then aimed all of them upward telepathically.

The barrage of bullets was soon unleashed as they effortlessly pierced through the ceiling and even through multiple floors and rushing towards the enemy. Brass cartridges falling like rain as both of them running towards the darkness inside.

**Meanwhile in at the duo's position**

"Guess they lost track of us, huh?" The SS Sniper said to his buddy as he runs down the hallway.

"Quite a special and persistent bunches too. I doubt that rocket of mine did kill them though since it would be really anti-climatic if that actually did them in." The SS Assault said to his buddy as he also runs through the dark hallway.

"So what do we do now?" The SS Sniper said.

"To the extraction point, we let the toys we received to do the rest of our job. Not that we actually have much chance when we are just boiled down to 2v10 and that's when we are buttfucked to the oblivion." The SS Assault said.

They still keep running but they felt something is horribly wrong like something is approaching them, a bad omen of sorts. The SS Assault can't bear this feeling anymore and decided to pull his friend to him as he is the one who is running ahead.

In just about a moment later, the hail of bullets tore apart the ground where the SS Sniper was. If the SS Assault has any been later, the man who is fighting alongside who would have been turned into grounded beef. Seeing the hail of bullets rushing towards them, both of them quickly gather their paces and moves as quickly as they could before the whole place collapse on them.

"Screw this!" The SS Assault said as he quickly draws his assault rifle and fired them down into the ground as if to return fire for attempting to kill his friend,

The bullets pierced through the floor and quickly made their way back to the floor that Arnold and Alfin are in. Arnold despite running in near-dark atmosphere managed to evade the oncoming attacks that are aimed towards him in his general direction.

Bullets fly, the amount and firepower they are displaying are staggering. The building's structure can't handle the power that it was forced to endure as even a single bullet can tear the building's inside apart. The building started to collapse on itself as the damage quickly coursed through it.

Both sides refused to yield no matter what. Both of them acrobatically evade any incoming bullets that they only have what it can count like a hundred-thousandth of a second in this tight space to avoid getting hit by them. They keep running for who knows how long, this building whose size is 500 meters wide but to them, they were lost in the void and will never find the light again.

Within this blind chaos, the only path they had left is forward. Keep moving forwards, there is nothing else that can show them an alternative way out.

The SS Sniper decided that he has to do something about this deadlock. He can't let this conflict to drag out his escape any longer. He then pressed something in his Kar98k and the rifle in his hand transmogrified into something completely different. A futuristic railgun with its electric railings radiating with energy. He pulled the bolt back and insert a bullet into it then push the bolt back to where it belongs. He then grabbed something out of his pocket, a cylinder of sorts and it seems to radiate an azure light of sorts. He then proceeds to grab the wires that were connected into the cylinder and then connected them into his scope.

The moment he did so, the scope suddenly blared up into life as its functionality is completely changed. The scope turned into a see-through sight that allows him to pin-point his enemy even through solid matters, presence concealment, and even high-end magecrafts that were made to hide its user.

He looked down into the sight while still running away from the collapsing hallway. The sights show clearly where Arnold and Alfin are and he could have used it from day one but decided not to since he wanted to do as little as he could while still technically passed off as done. But the pair that he is fighting against right now pissed him off to no end and decided to go serious against them.

With power charging into the railgun and illuminating the dark hallway, he wanted to pick the perfect moment to shot both of them down in one single shot. However, something unexpected happens, the girl within his scope seems to notice that he is aiming at her, but how?! Upon seeing this unexpected development, the SS Sniper lost his cool and pulled the trigger too early. And just like that, the girl within his scope quickly used her blazing chain and quickly pulled both Arnold and her out of danger zone immediately the moment she noticed and he just missed her

The beam fired from the SS Sniper's railgun evaporated everything within its path but its intended target has already escaped. Its blinding pillar of light penetrated and pierced through the darkness with its blinding light. Meanwhile, Arnold and Alfin who are being pulled towards the end of the building and due to them doing so in a hasty manner, Alfin got little control of her chain and thus, both of them slammed into the wall face-first.

And right after that, the wall gave up and both of them still having momentum in them then quickly falling out of the building and begins to freefall towards the ground. In just about a roughly second later, the SS duo also jumped out of the building right when the whole place collapsed on its own.

Unlike Arnold and Alfin though, they have something for themselves already. And when the pair from below looked up only to realize what the duo's intention was, to begin with. Extraction... They were intending to escape this place and letting this place overrun with an endless amount of Azure Soldiers. In the end, the end justifies the means to them.

A helicopter is flying above them and the SS duo has grabbed the landing skids. It then soon begins to move away from the place and to leave whatever they used to deal with the rest of the situation.

Alfin wanted to take them down right now but at the same time, prioritize her lover's safety first. Quickly grabbing a parachute from her imaginary weapon arsenal. Comparing to Arnold, she is like the library of Alexandria compare to Arnold's single bookshelf. Once she did so, she used it immediately to slow their fall and so that they can calm themselves down. Meanwhile, the helicopter is casually moving away as if the whole situation is in its bag right now. That fact alone pissed Alfin immensely that Arnold can felt the slumbering wrath within her started to become agitated.

Using the power that she learned from Shirou, she traced the railgun that shot down the Metal Gear immediately. This time, her target is a helicopter, not the Metal Gear. Pumping her mana into the railgun and despite the helicopter has moved away by a huge margin from its extraction and the fact that she only has ironsight, she still fired the railgun.

The beam fired from the gun then immediately reaching towards the helicopter. The shot that she did so is scarily accurate that it doesn't fit her at all. Nonetheless, the shot reached the helicopter and activated its defense mechanism as it deployed a force field to protect itself form whatever may try to harm it.

Well, it tried. The power of the railgun, in the end, is too great for the force field as the beam ruptured through it and damaged the rotor immediately. Smokes quickly coming out and the helicopter started to spin erratically and uncontrolled, it seems that the idea of nothing can break through the force field is shattered immediately right after that.

The trail of smoke left behind by the crippled helicopter as it tried to sustain its flight but met with only failures. The thing then crashed into something from a distance but the smoke it left behind marked wherever that place is.

"You know what to do, Arnold?" Alfin said to Arnold.

Arnold nodded but he knew something isn't right. There is something inside her that is swirling unstably, like a mess of negative emotions that keeps chain reacting with each other and make it even worse. He doesn't know how to speak about this but it felt like a time bomb waiting to be detonated.

Knowing that there is nothing else that he can do, he decided to head towards the crash site and checks if there is anyone who is still alive there or not. The chance that they might have run away by now is high but if that is the case, he can trace their steps and continue to pursue them.

It seems that they didn't plan from here, after all, the path towards their crash site is completely empty and without anyone to stop them in their way. Something about this doesn't feel right, it feels like he is walking closer to an ambush that he has no mean to counter.

"Arnold!" Alfin yelled to Arnold when she finally found the crash site.

He jumped to the higher ground immediately and noticed the helicopter wreckage on the rooftop of a building. There are two people walking out of it and they seem to be not greatly injured but seem to be pissed when their escape vehicle got shot down like that.

"Damn it! I can't believe that they have something that can penetrate through our helicopter's force field like that." The SS Sniper said as he threw a fit.

"Can't expect the unexpected, guess that we will have to call out for another one or we will have to use the-" The SS Assault said nonchalantly despite he got the bad end of the stick more than SS Sniper.

"Forget about that, we will only use it when we got in crisis. Do you think that the Furher will let it slide when we literally just run away like this?!" The SS Sniper said right in the face to SS Assault.

"Bruh, The Furher literally let everything slide for the last few years already. Everyone used the- Hey! They're here! Run!" The SS Assault about to say something important until he noticed that both Arnold and Alfin are observing them. Right after that, both of them quickly run away as fast as they could.

"Damn it! Should have acted sooner!" Alfin grunted.

Arnold quickly getting back on his two feet and begins to pursue the duo. The chase back on once again.

The SS Assault quickly drew his assault rifle and begins to open fire on him. The deceptive appearance of it hides its absurd firepower, the gun itself firing so much bullet that even an MG-42's firing rate felt like firing a flintlock musket to a machine gun. Arnold quickly tried to jump out of its way but the SS Assault keeps aiming at him to make sure that it would drive Arnold away.

Realizing that he can't pursue them from directly from behind, he quickly jumps off to another building across the road and Alfin quickly creates many machine guns and kept them afloat telepathically and then begins to return fire toward the duo.

Each bullet collides with each other and deflects themselves immediately, like a storm of metal clashing themselves into a deafening symphony. Lead falling like rains and sparks fly everywhere like the rain where this battle is occurring. Each collision has so much power discharged to the point its shockwave is about a hundred times bigger than the bullet itself.

While the deadlock between Alfin and the SS Assault is still going on. The SS Sniper decided to use another ace within his sleeve. He redirects the wiring from the scope into the gun itself. The railgun suddenly illuminates even brighter and he then proceeds to flip the sight railing along with its scope to the side which revealed something right beneath it. The moment he did so, a reflex sight beneath it sprung open and sight railing turned into an energy counter which measures how much power the gun itself has right now.

He then aims at the foundation of buildings where Arnold and Alfin are running along now. Arnold, however, noticed it and quickly grabbed the T-Gewehr within his imaginary armory. He quickly aimed down by the iron sight at squarely at the SS Sniper's head. Without any hesitation, he pulled the trigger but something unbelievable happened.

The SS Sniper tilted his head by a bit and evaded the bullet just by enough for a graze by the hair. The T-Gewehr bullet was moving at massively hypersonic speed and that SS Sniper just evaded it casually as if nothing happened. That smug little shit sure didn't lie about his skills!

And then the SS Sniper pulled his trigger and the beam sweep across the whole place as it razes through multiple city blocks across a vast distance. With the foundation destroyed, the buildings that Arnold was running on begins to collapse. Aware of the emergence of the situation, Arnold begins to pick up his pace and running as fast as he could. Forcing more power into his feet, the speed that it is forced to move begins to go so fast that it became nothing but a blur. And right of the bat, he leaps across each building with the amount of time he has left can't even be counted to a second.

And surprising enough, the duo is also keeping up with the pair no matter what. In order to break through this deadlock, the SS Assault quickly used the underslung rocket launcher and fired one rocket towards her, the thing somehow threading itself through the barrage of bullets and the SS Assault immediately remotely detonate the rocket and disrupt the deadlock they were in.

Right when his chance comes, he quickly grabbed his friend by the coat and quickly runs in a different direction. Arnold noticed it and he decided to quickly jump across the road once more so that he can continue to pursue them.

Now suddenly behind them once more, he quickly tried to catch up with them but all of these endless runnings started to sap his sanity. He wanted to finish this already but those bastards are far more persistent than how he thought they could be. Still returning fire to each other, they keep racing with no destination in mind. Feeling each drop of rain as cold as nuclear winter embracing on their skins as they run through the ruined landscape of what was once a German city.

With only each other as targets in their minds within this endless pursuit, they ignored even the nuclear blast that just occurred in the distance away from them. They were too locked in combat with each other that a nuclear blast doesn't faze them at all.

The SS Sniper grabbed something out of his pocket, a card of sorts. It is illuminating in azure color and then he dropped it on the ground where he just run through. Suddenly, a battalion of Azure Soldiers appeared out of nowhere. They quickly formed their formation quickly with the riot shielders get to the frontline and the others position themselves into place.

Arnold and Alfin noticed the roadblock in front of them. So that's how the enemy duo managed to mobilize so many Azure Soldiers at once like that without being detected. They just straight up teleport all of them with the cards being designator, the cards by themselves don't radiate any mana and thus can't be detected unless a high-tier Caster managed to analyze the purpose of these cards.

Both of them knew that fighting this roadblock will cost them so much precious time that the duo might have escaped the moment they were done with this roadblock. Quickly seeking any alternative path, Arnold looked at the large building from across the road and quickly used his modified sawn-off and used the hook shot so that he can sidestep this whole fight.

With the Hookshot latched onto the building, Arnold pressed the secondary trigger once more as it pulled both of them towards the building. Bracing for the landing, he placed his feet on the vertical surface of the building and proceeds to run on the building's wall itself and thus just ignored the SS Sniper's plan entirely.

With each leap from the building, he used the hook shot installed right under his shotgun so that he can latch himself once more into the building's surface. Quite needless to say that the duo from the opposite running way noticed them. Quickly drawing their weapons out, they opened fire on Arnold and his girl. Ballistics and laser, they bombard on the buildings that just happened to be in Arnold's path. But even then, it isn't enough

Alfin also recreates the machine guns she has and also unleashes them on the duo below and once again was this deafening symphony was played. There has to be a decisive way of ending all of this instead of just senseless runabout like this. The amount of power used in this conflict goes beyond just a battle, it is the entire war or even more.

"Well well, let's see how well you can fare when you are running sideways on something vertical that is about to collapse!" The SS Assault said as he aims the underslung rocket launchers at the buildings' foundation.

Even the underslung rocket launcher was deceptively huge in ammo capacity. And consider the fact that both of them are running parallel to each other, the SS Assault will destroy any buildings that he has to use to run on just by aiming his rocket launcher ahead of him and just pull the underslung trigger.

Buildings and buildings started to collapse rapidly, once again thrown into this wringer once more, he is forced to keep moving as fast as his feet can take when time is running down and boiled to not even a second left per building before they completely collapse. Arnold thought that he couldn't keep this on any longer

However, their conflict was suddenly interrupted. The duo probably planned this ahead as a combat helicopter quickly approaching Arnold and Alfin. They swore they could hear the mocking snide of the duo before they suddenly speed up and went in a different direction than before. With that helicopter quickly closing its distance and begin to open fire on Arnold and Alfin. And right in the heat of the moment, Alfin grabbed something within her imaginary armory and instinctively threw it towards the retreating SS Sniper but based on how he reacted, it is a miss and probably not something lethal, to begin with since there is no aftereffect.

"Keep running! Don't stop!" Alfin said to Arnold the obvious.

The situation became far more chaotic than how they expected, Alfin quickly tried to retrace the railgun from before but the panic feelings that are building up inside her is making her unable to concentrate properly.

"Alfin! Do something already!" Arnold said to Alfin as he keeps evading the hail of bullets.

Arnold tried to use the T-Gewehr against it but the bullet just gets deflected the moment it reached its vicinity by the force field surrounding it. Meanwhile, he doesn't even know how long he ran on the vertical surface like this.

"Damn it, is there really nothing that can break through the force field without Alfin's railgun?" Arnold thought as he quickly leaps from the building's surface into one across the desolated road.

Bursting through the window and landed on his two feet without any repercussions, the helicopter outside still pursuing him and unleashing its machine-gun barrage on where he landed immediately. Quickly gather on his two feet and moves as fast as he could, he quickly tried to run away from the barrage that is sawing through the derelict building like butter.

"The force field will activate the moment anything it can detect as a threat came close to its proximity. Just is there anything-" Arnold tried to think of a way while running through the empty hall as the whole place is crumbling down at any moment. But an idea flashed through his mind immediately.

What exactly does it detect as a threat? If it means anything remotely immediately damaging like ballistics, thrown weapons, or unregistered personnel then perhaps what he thinks of could work.

Quickly drew his sawn-off once more and this time he fired the underslung grappling hook towards the rotor and surprise, it actually worked! It didn't detect the Hookshot as something dangerous at all and it just simply latched onto the rotor without damaging it initially. Seeing the chance came for him, he quickly jumped out of the window and landed on the ground immediately.

The helicopter tried to change its facing direction before firing at him, Alfin quickly created an obelisk of pure steel that raised from the ground up and blocked the incoming barrage of bullets with it. Arnold then pressed the secondary trigger once more and this time, he will pull the helicopter towards him. The helicopter tried to resist but Alfin then drops off from Arnold's back and also assists him in pulling the helicopter down. With the strength of two Servants, there is one of two things that it will give out first. The helicopter itself or the rotor which the chain latched onto.

"Gaaaaaaaaaah!" Both of the yelled at the same time as they tried to forcefully bring down the helicopter.

And finally, the rotor snapped and the helicopter then quickly falls toward the ground, it then exploded from the moment of impact and then turned into a burning heap of scraps. After they confirmed that there is nothing left alive in there, they together breathed in relief of how close they were to die.

"Thank God that we're okay, but damn it, they literally picked the perfect time to cut us off the track. Got to say this though, they were smart, that much is true." Arnold said as he breathes in.

"Arnold? Something is approaching us..." Alfin said to Arnold as she turned around to see a battalion of Azure Soldiers approaching them.

Not that they actually posing a threat to Alfin since she has no reason to limit her power in the first place here, she quickly just summon those blazing portals and sends out the cannons and fire them all towards the oncoming mob. Needless to say though, she decimated them all in one fell swoop. But it is strange though, this whole area was devoid of Azure Soldiers until now and she can sense more of them nearby. But what she found suspicious is that the cluster of those energy readings is assembled in a line.

"Arnold, I think I did something just now.". Alfin said as she goes ahead.

Arnold doesn't understand what she meant just now but he still decided to follow her no matter what. They also encountered many hordes of Azure Soldier like this on the way but Alfin just annihilates them with her overwhelming firepower alone. And soon, they found one conclusive evidence. The knife that stuck on the floor and there are some sorts of leather cloth sticking out.

It was found inside the building that they have last seen the duo from before. They inspected the knife and then looked at the large gaping hole that seems to go through even multiple buildings over a large distance.

"I think that we know where they go now, but if that's the case, prepare to meet with fierce resistance.". Arnold said as he swallowed his breath from the thought alone.

Alfin's knife throw cut into the side bag that the SS Sniper wore and now it just drops these cards everywhere he goes. Who knows when would he notices something amiss but they at least know the basic path that they can go now. By detecting the energy readings from the cluster of Azure Soldiers, they can plan out the basic direction of where the duo went. If they met with anything that tried to fight back then they are going the right way.

They looked at each other and then nodded in understanding. They then went together through that hole which will lead them to their final confrontation. But the path itself isn't just simply a race to the finish line, but rather a path filled with trails and treacheries. They will have to endure a lot before reaching their final destination, for there is another person who has their duty fulfilled. And he will be back with even greater vengeance.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Critical Annihilation**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

"Phew, guess we finally lost them, right?" The SS Sniper said as he slowed down to catch his breath.

"Yeah, hopefully, they won't somehow manage to track us down by sheer mistake that we make that we aren't aware of time." SS Assault said jokingly.

The SS Sniper decided to search for the communicator inside his bag only realize what happened. The bag... it was cut, all of the designator cards got dropped during his escape duration. The only thing inside is the battery and the communicator.

"D'oh!" SS Sniper groaned in the realization that he fucked things up.

"Well, it seems like we are still being pursued. Considering the performance they displayed, any Azure Soldier got deployed by those cards are probably rekt by now" The SS Assault said.

Both of them sighed, there's no avoiding anymore. Suddenly, the radio communicator in his hand blared up. Quickly answering the call, he found out that there is another Servant who is deployed here.

"Severloh, is there anyone here?" The voice from the other side said.

"Dear God! Why were you here at a time like this!?" The SS Sniper said.

"I received reports that many of our WMD were destroyed considering the fact that the last feedback from them was roughly an hour ago. It seems that we have underestimated our foes this time. I was assigned to this mission to assist to ensure this mission isn't compromised.". Severloh said.

The SS Sniper grunted, aren't the EKS supposed to eliminate any old-age Servants? But apparently, age doesn't equalize into power at all. They need to improvise a new plan. A better one than this.

"Severloh, will you help me this time? Pretty fucking please?" The SS Sniper asked.

"Mathias... That's why I'm here in the first place. I'm could assure you that you won't be getting ganged upon considering how far apart from all of the enemy Servants are. The two that are pursuing you might be an issue but trust me, I shall impede their progress as much as I could." Severloh said in reassurance.

Mathias then turns off the communicator and then turns toward his buddy. Knowing that they fucked everything big times, they decided to discuss before acting their net move.

"I'm gonna be real with you here Joseph. No matter how bad things can get, just promise me that you won't abandon me, okay?" Mathias asked.

"Bruh, if you think that I will abandon you, you might as well expect this sky to collapse in the next second. Whoops, nothing happened. Even if the whole world may turn its back on you, I will still be there to cover you no matter what." Joseph said to his friend.

Both of them then fist bump each other. Too bad they were on the other side because their brotherhood is just exemplary.

"So where do we go now?" Joseph asked.

Mathias shrugged as he then looks around the place for an answer. He turned his gaze around the cold surrounding and finds one certain landmark that he finds it hard to ignore.

"Was that cathedral ever there before?" Mathias said as he finds something strange in his sight.

Both of them then looked at the cathedral on the small mountain from the distance. There is something strange about it that they can't quite put their fingers on. They patrolled the fourth ring many times and this is the first time they even saw that cathedral.

"You know, we might as well get to the place. There might be something there." Mathias said.

Joseph nodded and both of them heads toward the place. Leaving their faith on Severloh, they don't know if the man would uphold his side of promise but it is better to have a blind faith than a bare truth of darkness.

**Meanwhile, at Arnold and Alfin's position**

"This is the 32nd battalion that you just annihilated, are you sure that we are on the right path here?" Arnold asked.

"Trust me, they are arranged on a pathway. If those two were smart, they would make sure they leave absolutely no trace at all but here is all of those Azure Soldiers that just got summoned here." Alfin said.

And once more they follow after the trace of that dastard duo, if they found anything that just opens fire on them immediately without question, that means they are on the right path.

"By the way, Alfin. Do you ever having the feeling that somebody is observing you and all of what you do without you knowing?" Arnold asked.

"You better be not serious about it or we probably get into deep shit because of it.". Alfin said in irritated tone because Arnold's instinct just never go wrong when it required.

They together leap onto the highest building they could find and then observing the land surrounding them. If only they could find everyone else but the senseless pursuit pretty much split them entirely from the whole group. The land surrounding themselves is uncharted areas where despite being city are still looking extremely desolated.

"I wonder what happened in this place. To have the populace to suddenly disappear like this is unusual." Alfin said.

The mana level here is pretty much in the realm of the age of God, the only reason none of those mystical creatures emerged here is that it is still human's plane of existence and the fact that they would be easily exterminated by the stationed Azure Soldiers here. Did the whole populace die because they can't handle the sudden spike of mana level? There's no way that he would ever answer a question like that.

"Alfin? I think I saw something approaching?" Arnold said as he saw a flash of azure light from the distance.

Right when he noticed it, he quickly realized the oncoming danger and quickly grabbed Alfin and jumped off the building as fast as he could. Soon the whole top of the place disintegrated into nothingness.

"What just happened!?" Alfin said as she and her lover are freefalling.

"I don't know! But it has to be something dangerous!" Arnold said as he quickly positions himself.

Before they could realize it, the whole building that they used to scout is gone too. They landed on the ground and moves away as quickly as they could. If anything that can happen, getting hit by it is instant 'game over'.

There's one thing he realized is common with any of those Third Reich's Servant. Their beam attacks seem to be azure primarily. It can be meaning one thing, they use the same source for their power but he could be wrong and just grasping at straws.

"What do we do now!? Where was that came from!?" Alfin said in a panic as she is suddenly going up against another force of nature.

Arnold started to think back about what transpired during the fall, he noticed where those azure beams came from, it was... a cathedral.

"Alfin? You saw that cathedral from the distance?" Arnold asked.

"Yeah? You telling me that-" Alfin said before getting cut off by something approaching,

Both of them jumped away from the hiding spot as an azure beam razed through their previous position and anything on its path. Arnold was right, the firing direction is indeed coming from the cathedral! But there is one thing though, the potency of that attack was staggering like he could tell that a simple railgun alone isn't enough. It is most likely came from a high-power direct energy weapon. Consider the fact that all of the Third Reich's Servants decided to take off the glove at this point, it is no longer surprising anymore.

"We need to get there, now!" Arnold said.

"How?! I'm not going to run out there and risk getting evaporated by that annihilating beam!" Alfin said in protest of what Arnold suggests.

And her cover is blown away once more by that azure beam and she has to jump out once more. Realizing just how stupid the idea of staying is, she decided to agree to Arnold's plan.

"So how do we get there?" Alfin said.

"The fact that they knew where exactly we are means stealth is out of the question. We will get there with the fastest mean we have." Arnold said before he grasps for something in his mind.

And then a motorcycle quickly appeared out of thin air, she remembered the last time she rides this with Arnold and then understands what he means.

"Get on, they might try to fire another shot of us." Arnold said as he gets on the motorbike.

Alfin quickly nodded and gets onto the motorcycle, Arnold felt a great disturbance within the atmosphere and quickly throttles his bike as fast as he could. Plowing into maximum speed in a mere fraction of not even a second, he quickly makes a sharp drift that tilted both him and his bike near the ground. In literally the next moment, the azure beam that is fired at him grazed his hair by a millimeter.

The moment he got out of danger, he quickly drives as fast as he could towards the cathedral in the distance. That's where the firer is and he could ascertain it.

Driving his motorcycle through the ruined landscape, they probably didn't expect him to have a vehicle like that at all. Moving swiftly through the gaps between each of those attacks, he is getting closer to the cathedral by each second passed.

Alfin assisted him by summoning the artillery cannons and firing them ahead so that she can create a path through the abandoned buildings if the situation must. Both of them compliments each other greatly that the only way to even have a chance to kill them is to separate them from each other.

**Meanwhile, at the top of the cathedral.**

"Severloh! They are approaching this place fast, none of our attacks are landing at all!" The young man next to the Beast said,

The gun that Severloh is using isn't even looking like anything remotely close to the MG-42, it looks like an entirely different weapon on its own. It has a triple barrel bunched together and each is shrouded by a deep coolant tube that gives off azure tinted light. The whole thing is made entirely out of composite materials and most advanced metal they capable of mustering up.

It has a carrying handle and so that it could be picked up and used without needing to put into stationary tripod although unrecommended to do so. To the side of it is a battery, one that looks like an unnecessary huge disk and it seems to be spinning by itself around the center. There's also an exhaust pipe that seems to be used to exhaust the heat to prevent the gun from imploding on itself due to overheating. The only similarity is the stock, the trigger grip, anything other than that is just something that's never there in the original MG-42 design.

"Then we will have to resort to greater measure, Jager." Severloh said to his allies.

Severloh then focuses on the switch right on top of the gun's main body. There are four modes that it has, Safe, Concentrated Burst, Barrage, and another one that seems to be deliberately written over with lines.

"Severloh, what is the last one there?" Jager asked.

"It's best that you don't know. And I wish that I will never use that mode, no matter what." Severloh said as if he has seen hell for himself before he switches to Barrage mode.

The moment he did so, the gun no longer firing in concentrated beam anymore but it is now firing like what all machine guns do. A barrage of projectiles was unleashed and it rains down upon the land below them. A rain of azure that erases anything that it lands on. Each beam disintegrates anything it touches no matter what it is.

Meanwhile...

"Arnold, watch out!" Alfin said as she noticed the change in Severloh's attack.

Arnold pushed his reflex to the limit but even then, he can't ascertain his safety and Alfin's. There is just too much for him to handle alone. He can dodge a powerful attack but certainly not a hail of endless amount of them.

A beam with its trajectory aims directly at him, Arnold wanted to turn in another direction but doing so would just get him hit by the others. Arnold doesn't know what he should do anymore as the sense of impending death approaches him even closer.

But it never came, he was surprised that something actually managed to block it. He turned back towards her and noticed that she is firing something out of the blazing portals she summoned. Upon further checking, she fires steel spikes right at the beam that would hit him.

Then he realized, the concentrated beam would obviously powerful in itself but a barrage would make sense as to why she can clash it back. The potency of each shot was reduced tremendously to trade for the firing rate and thus even her steel spikes could clash them back. It is a process of annihilation. After all, she just needs to fire a spike that has enough mana to counter against that shot directly. But considering how much of all of it at once, it puts a great strain in her mind.

They managed to get closer to the cathedral thanks to Alfin's assistance. The barrage has pretty much swept clear of anything that is not them in its path at this point and it is clear that Severloh will have to take up his game to the next level if he wanted any chance against them.

"Severloh! Don't tell me that-" Jager said as he noticed what Severloh is trying to do.

"Tell no one of what I have to do here. You are going to see the full capability of the Mourning Star in just about a next second." Severloh said with a bit of regret in his tone before he pulls the switch to the 'crossed-out' one.

The gun's battery suddenly illuminates brightly as it is being pushed to its limit. Electric currents started to run through the barrels of the gun as it becomes saturated with power.

"Also, I didn't lie when I said this thing has potential energy outputs of a dying star.". Severloh said before he pulled the trigger.

In the next moment, the Mourning Star fired its beam in the most powerful mode possible. A blinding energy blast that is so bright that it makes daytime looks like night compared to it. The sheer power it fired also erased away the crossed-out part of the gun and beneath it is one sentence.

_Critical Annihilation_

For when you want that one person deader than dead and accept no substitute.

Meanwhile, just a half minute ago, back to Arnold and Alfin's position. They noticed something is amiss when the beam ceased coming towards them. They would wish to consider it as, out of ammo but considering their experience with everything here, they knew that something bad is really going to happen. And boy how right they are.

"Arnold, I think you should make a sharp turn, now.". Alfin said in a deadpan tone for her fear started to overwhelm any other emotions.

Arnold decided to heed her words because there is literally nothing else he could do to shake off the feeling of dread that is haunting him right now. The moment he turned, a huge beam just almost hit him and he turned to see as it razes through the terrain like nothing. It then impacts on the mountain a long distance away from him and watches as the beam melts the entire mountain down in a blink of an eye.

"Oh for the love of!" Arnold said in a panic as he realized the beam is starting to gear itself towards him.

The beam slowly moves toward Arnold and Alfin as both of them tried to go as fast as they could to avoid getting evaporated by that beam. They quickly move through the tightly packed urban area where roads and alleys are few and between. They even resorted to brute force through buildings but that is a little price to pay compared to getting hit by that azure beam of pure destruction.

"Alfin, we can't keep running around in a circle like this. We need to find a way like now!" Arnold said to Alfin.

Arnold is right, if they don't resolve this soon, the beam will annihilate pretty much anything in the fourth ring and that includes his allies who are being separated right now. He needs to be decisive and quick or there will be nothing left of what he loved.

"Alfin, you fire an artillery shell at the highest building that you managed to detect at its foundation in a way that it would take us toward the cathedral!" Arnold said to her.

Alfin nodded and she quickly looked for anything that could possibly break them out of this situation. With just a simple quick glance, she detected one that could easily help them achieve their objective.

Quickly summon artillery through the blazing portal she created, she fired one right into its feet and the building started to tilt in the direction towards the cathedral. Arnold took notice and quickly drifted through multiple buildings in order to align himself with the path and then he quickly throttles his motorcycle to full speed as it quickly moves toward the makeshift ramp that they created.

And soon they quickly take off and fly towards the cathedral. However, Severloh has already aimed the Mourning Star closed enough and all he needs to do left is just to aim upward.

"Arnold! There won't be enough momentum!" Alfin said as the bikes started to fall off while the beam is raising up towards them.

"Jump!" Arnold said as both of them leaped out of the motorcycle for even a meager hope of success but all it does is to stall for the inevitable.

Even all of what they did this far, all of the possible unfair advantages they have, they are still unable to make their way out. Death is approaching even closer and soon it will be his end.

Arnold's mind went into a state of epiphany, not knowing what to do anymore after he just threw all of his decks for the hope of victory only to see that he was still unable to do so. There is one single verse in his poem that saved Alfin's life, perhaps it would do the same to him?

_Swore my vow that I heard the angels cry_

And as he Alfin's held onto him tightly, the beam soon engulfed both of them, and death was the only thing that is ascertained to them.

"Did we do it?' Jager asked Severloh for confirmation.

Severloh then proceeds to let go of the trigger but something unbelievable happened. Arnold and Alfin, they are still there unfazed from an attack that could erase the whole mountain. It was as if the beam didn't even contact them at all but how?

Arnold is carrying Alfin in bridal style, again. The angel wings once again appeared as he floats midair. The whole scene was so out of this world that Severloh and Jager can't believe what is unfolding in front of them. Severloh within his fear of something worse might going to happen if he stands still and do nothing and thus fired the Mourning Star in Critical Annihilation mode at them once more.

But even after an earth-shattering attack like that, they still persist, as if that attack was just used to fire at nothing. For the first time, Severloh experiences true genuine fear when seeing something that can't be hit by the Mourning Star.

"Spirit Phaze!" Arnold yelled as he dived towards Severloh at godspeed before anyone could react.

Right in the next moment, he collided head-on into Severloh and knocked him away like a ragdoll. Alfin quickly jumped and kicked Jager right into his face before he could react. And apparently, Spirit Phaze collision is actually a lot more painful than how it looks because Severloh seems to be lying on the ground while holding on to his gut while wincing in pain.

Jager then quickly pulled himself up and run towards Severloh. Alfin seeing what he is trying to do and draws her golden pistol and open fire on him.

"Not so fast!" Alfin yelled as she opens fire on Jager.

But lucks decided to have it in Jager's side as he evaded all of them and the moment he reached Severloh, he pressed something that he takes out of his coat. Soon, a blinding flash and a disorienting sound soon followed and the two of them are gone without a trace.

"Damn it, at least we finish all of these swiftly.". Alfin grunted when the enemy managed to run away from them successfully.

Their main objective is to make it to the cathedral, Severloh and his buddy just happened to get caught up in this.

"Guess this is about time we finish this mess for once and for all, huh?" Alfin said.

Arnold nodded in agreement, there is still one thing he doesn't understand. Just what is exactly the angel wings on him mean? Why does he have one and while does he became intangible physically when activated? At that time, he was too enamored by the newfound power that he just let his heart do the rest.

"Either way, let us enter the place and settle the deal with that annoying duo. Especially on that spiky-haired bastard for serving my ass on a plate," Alfin said in an annoyed tone.

Both of them jumped down to the ground and they are now facing the entrance of the cathedral. There is something ominous about this place but what do they have to judge, pretty much everything else here is ominous. They made it this far into the fourth ring and still no signs of any normal person here.

Both of them looked at each other once more and then nodded in unison. They together pushed the door wide open and inside is what you usually found in a church, just much bigger. However, there are two certain people here that stands out completely from the place. Right in the furthest part of the cathedral is a large organ and Mathias is sitting in front of it while Joseph is standing beside him.

Both of them looked at Arnold and Alfin with nothing to read in their facials. There is only one thing that has in all of their minds, to finish this conflict for once and for all.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Double Trouble**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

"!" Mathias's thought shifted instantly as Arnold suddenly landed in front of him within a split second. He quickly falls back immediately as Joseph joined the fray and halted the pickaxe swing with his bare hands alone.

Joseph then took grips of the pickaxe as he begins to spin around while Arnold still held onto it like a whirlwind before letting go and the momentum threw Arnold into a wall. Joseph then quickly follows up and tried to choke Arnold before punching him with enough force to flung him into a pillar.

A bullet almost hit Joseph in his feet and he looked up to see Alfin's levitating in the air and with machine guns alongside her prepared to fire.

"Mathias! Get to the upper floor! Now!" Joseph telepathically speaks with him.

Mathias from the back nodded before he jumped into the upper floor. Arnold who got stuck into the supporting pillar noticed and quickly pulled himself out and jumped to the upper floor along with Mathias. The two confronted with each other as the floor below turned into complete chaos as ballistics flying everywhere.

Mathias draws his Kar98k as it transmogrified into a railgun immediately. Arnold quick draws with a magnum revolver in order to retaliate as his opponent about to attack. Both narrowly missed each other with their shots as they evaded it with all of their wits on. Arnold took advantage of it and closing in on Mathias and attacks him while he is still trying to reload the gun.

Pulling a lightning-fast roundhouse kick that is aimed at the temple, Mathias's own reflex quickly reacts and narrowly evaded it. The guy may do something else but he ain't losing his sights on his enemy. Arnold quickly follows up on his attack but Mathias evaded them all like nothing. Seeing how the opponent evading his incoming attacks, he decided to change his pattern by charging forward and then kicks the railgun in Mathias's hands upward.

The guy may take notice of the attacks directly on him easily but he didn't seem to apply that for his weapon as Arnold disarms him easily in a matter of second. The moment the gun landed, Arnold stomped on it with one foot to prevent Mathias from retrieving it. However, there is one thing that Arnold didn't expect at all. Mathias never really need to touch his gun to retrieve it. The guy snapped his finger and the gun suddenly propelled itself to Mathias automatically which Arnold also slipped from the sudden movement of it.

With the gun back in his hand again, he quickly tried to shot Arnold while he is still lying on the floor. Quickly reacting to the situation, Arnold quickly rolled and evaded the oncoming onslaught of attacks and getting back on his two feet again. Mathias then begins to flip the sight railing to the side as it switches to energy mode. Considering that both of them are in a tight place like this, there is no avoiding getting hit by Mathias's next attack.

Seeing that there is no choice left, Arnold quickly charges toward Mathias as quickly he could, and right before the man in front of him could pull the trigger, Arnold chanted the verse of that same poem. Angel wings quickly sprouted metaphysically on his back as he flies forward at godspeed towards Mathias. Mathias pulled the trigger and an azure beam fired from the gun itself. However, Arnold phased through the beam entirely as if it didn't affect him at all. The beam then goes on continuously and blasts a huge hole through the marble wall itself.

"Spirit Phaze!" Arnold lets out his cry as he charges toward Mathias.

Suddenly getting caught in confusion when Arnold just ignored his attack entirely altogether and don't know what to do. Arnold then collided head-on into Mathias right into his gut and knocked him with enough power that Mathias got thrown into the wall and make a huge dent in it. Arnold then landed on his two feet and grabbed Mathias by his collar and lifts him up.

Despite being in a hell of a lot of pain from being hit by Spirit Phaze, Mathias doesn't bother to spend any ounce of his strength to scream. He quickly headbutted Arnold with one singular hit that dazed him immediately and he then proceeds to pull a mid-air somersault and kicked Arnold right in his chin. Upon that impact, Arnold's grip of Mathias got broke off as he falls to the ground but quickly pulled himself back up acrobatically.

Both of them wipes the blood of their mouth and looked intently at each other. Both of them then charge toward each other once more to continue their battle.

Meanwhile, Joseph is running on the wall to get away from Alfin's machine guns barrage. The only reason this cathedral hasn't collapsed since the first second of their battle is because of the huge amount of mana seeped into the infrastructure of this place, granting it the durability to withstand even Servants' attack.

Joseph then jumped down to the ground floor and then he started to kick the benches toward Alfin as if they were balls. Alfin evaded them and then smashes the last one with a steel edge she created the moment it reached near her and disappeared just as quickly as when it was used. However, there is one more thing that she didn't notice. She slashed something alongside the bench.

And then Joseph is suddenly right in front of her face and he smashed her right on top of her head into the ground. The moment he landed, he grabbed her by her head as he then swings her into multiple pillars as he ran across the hallway. All of them are hard enough to shatter the marble pillars upon collision.

Right after he is done smashing her face into the supporting pillars. He then proceeds to throw her through the large ornate window right behind the large organ that is used for religious ceremonies. The window shattered as she collided with it and got thrown into the yard outside.

Alfin then rolled on the ground and then skids for a little while before stopping. She coughed out blood and winced from the pain she got. Joseph meanwhile jumped through the huge hole in the window that he created and landed on the ground so he can continue the beatdown he has on her.

Alfin tried to stand up from the sheer pain that she is feeling right now. But before she could get her stance properly, Joseph rushed in and punched her into the gut and knocked her away by a huge distance at high speed. And he somehow managed to go even faster than the speed she is flying and then he kicked her upward into the sky.

Right when she is midair and unable to control her air control only to be hit with a continuous onslaught of strikes from Joseph who somehow managed to go faster than how she could believe. Because all of those strikes came from all possible directions, she is basically left with virtually no way to defend herself. And upon the last blow that pushed her even higher into the air, Joseph appeared right above her as he pulls an overhead smash into her gut and knocked her into the stone brick ground below with a force that created a huge crater in the process.

Joseph then landed a distance away from where the Alfin impacted on the ground, thinking that he crippled her. However, Alfin lunged at his face with a speed so fast that he couldn't react in time despite being a CQC specialist. Her eyes are filled with bloodshot as she is being filled with wrath and rage of being tossed around like a puppet.

She then grabbed his face and slammed him repeatedly towards the ground as she flies through the yard and then plows his face against the stone bricks to the point she razed a path during her flight. The moment, she reached the cathedral's wall, she then proceeds to slam Joseph despite her petite body with a force powerful enough to crack the whole surface itself with the collision point created a crater. The shockwave released easily matches the force of a storm that could raze a whole city down.

However, Joseph is far tougher than how he may appear as he then grabbed Alfin by her head before turning the table on her once more. His face is bruised from the beatdown that Alfin just gave him but other than that, he is still kicking no matter what. He then threw her away from him into the sky as he coughed out blood from the punishment he received.

Alfin then started to levitate in the air as she quickly creates multiple machine guns to open fire on her enemy below. Joseph saw what she is trying to do and he quickly stomped the ground and a large chunk of the stone brick floor was rooted up. He quickly grabbed it and just right at the moment Alfin unleashing her barrage of ballistics at him.

Using the chunk of the stone brick floor as a shield as he applied Reinforcement on it. The thing managed to stand up against the ceaseless barrage of bullets that Alfin is raining on him but he knew that he has to break this deadlock or else.

He then roundhouse kicks the chunk of bricks at her and when it is flying towards her, he drew out his assault rifle and used the underslung rocket launcher as a follow-up. She destroyed the chunk of bricks easily but Joseph remote detonated the rocket and shot her down into the ground.

"Kid, I'm afraid that you have left me no choice but to use this.". Joseph said as he draws out five azure tarot cards.

He then threw it towards her and Alfin instinctively puts on her guard but those cards are flying in a different direction and way from her. Joseph lets out a mocking smirk before cracking his knuckles and anticipating his next move.

The moment even one azure card landed, Alfin suddenly felt a sharp pain entered from her gut, her mind overdriven from the sheer adrenaline that is pumped into her blood. She saw it clearly, Joseph who was away from her about 100 meters away is suddenly right nearby her with his fist gutted right into her. She doesn't know how fast her mind is being driven right now but considering how almost everything else ceases to move, the rain, the particle, everything but her and Joseph. It is safe to assume that the guy has somehow managed to move at relativistic speed.

And it wasn't just one, the moment the other cards landed, she got hit by the other one before the pain even registered. She then realized it, the cards, Joseph moves near-instantaneous to where ever this card landed. He threw five cards and... Dear God...

Moving in a pentagram pattern, Joseph strikes Alfin five times in a row with all of them so ridiculously fast that they overlapped each other. And when the pain finally registered, she felt completely overwhelmed by it. To be ripping apart by the boundary of life and death, it is a sensation that no one would wish the other to felt no matter how cruel they are.

She felt every bone in her body fracture, she wanted to collapse, she wanted to die so that she can no longer felt the pain that she is being forced to endure. The life in her eyes started to fade as she felt her spirit is getting weaker.

But...

She refused...

Still standing up despite her body is on verge of death. Joseph meanwhile still looking at her to check what is she trying to do. The tension is rising so high that even a weave of their finger could cut the fabric of reality. And then, something unexpected happens.

Alfin lets out a demented laugh. It was as if she has nothing left to lose. She turned back to him and while still giving that psychotic smile. Her eyes turned completely blood-red as if she lets her wrath consumed her completely as it gives out a scarlet flash.

Joseph for the first time felt unnerved by the sights he is witnessing. He is the kind who is unphased even in the face of certain death and can even make light of it like nothing. But here, he truly felt that he is about to go up against something even worse than death itself. He wanted to shook this feeling off but they refused to do so no matter how he dictates them.

Decided to ignore the swelling dread inside, he charges forward to finish off Alfin for once and for all. However, before he could even get anywhere close to her. She activates one of the Noble Phantasm that is unlisted so far, a one that is so dreaded that it is deliberately left out even when True Name revealed.

_Auschwitz's Ashes_

A dark miasma started to form around her and spreads out rapidly, Joseph not knowing what he is about to enter and keeps charging forward mindlessly until he breathed in it.

It is stagnating and full of malice. The moment they got into his lung, Joseph tried to cover his mouth and nose and he also quickly though about halted moving immediately.

"This... What on earth is this miasma!? It felt so stagnant! I can't breathe..." Joseph thought as he is suffocating on it.

Knowing how bad things can get if he doesn't finish this immediately, he decided to charge forward and pulled a left hook with all of his might put into it. However, the miasma wasn't limited to just impede its opponent's sense alone, his movement felt so sluggish as he felt his strength is sapped more the more time he spent in this miasma. When his fist finally reached her, Alfin just simply blocked it with one hand alone. That's how Joseph goes from a menacing threat into an absolute joke.

He looked into her blood-red eyes, it is filled with scorn, hatred, and madness. He wanted to avert his eyes from continuing to witness it but with Alfin grabbed one of his fists, he has no possible way of running away.

Alfin then proceeds to slam him into the ground by swinging him by his fist. The impact was powerful enough to create a crater the size of his height. She then repeated this process multiple times and during all of them, Joseph landed face first.

And when she decided to have enough, she then proceeds to toss him into the broken cathedral wall. The damage that was inflicted on it already putting it near the verge of collapse and with Joseph being tossed into it just add more damage to it. The force that Alfin used to throw Joseph like that was unbelievable as her base strength wasn't anything exceptional in the first place.

Joseph tried to stands up on his two feet but Alfin really started to do a number on him and when he tried to refocus, Alfin is basically already near him as she lunged towards him like a predator about to devour its prey. She grabbed him by his neck as both of them burst through the wall simultaneously. Wherever she goes, the miasma also follows her.

Mathias and Arnold were dueling against each other while that happened and Alfin interrupted them by running through the place while deliberately smashing Joseph into as many things as she could. The supporting pillars, walls, anything... Her bloodlust reached its climax as she wanted nothing more than to slaughter Joseph like an animal.

Both Mathias and Arnold were surprised about what is unfolding right in front of them and then it hits them, the miasma. They started to cough and feeling suffocated from the sheer malice and despair that both of them can felt from the miasma itself.

"Gas mask, I need a gas mask!" Mathias said out loud as the guy searching desperately in his side bag for anything like it.

Arnold is also doing the same although not saying it out loud. Holding his breath as long as he could while the miasma is sapping his strength inside him more and more. Searching for anything that could help him but tried as much as he could, he has literally nothing that could resemble a gas mask. Within that last-second desperation, he grabbed something unexpected that is being stored inside the armory at that time.

The poppy.

Suddenly having a huge weight lifted off from him, no longer that sense of suffocating and the seeping despair and hopelessness. The poppy... it somehow managed to cleanse him of that miasma.

He then looked at his opponent while still holding onto his poppy. The guy is desperately trying to cling onto his dear life, Arnold basically wins and he could just finish this guy off but he decided not to. He may be an ass but he is not low enough to kick a person while they're down.

And when that isn't enough, Alfin charged through this place one last time and then jumped straight upward and burst through the ceiling. Once they reached the terminal height, she proceeds to slam him down against the ground at the height of 100 meters.

However, during those onslaughts of attacks, Joseph managed to reach for his pocket and got an azure card out of it. And when she about to slam him downward, Joseph threw the card towards the window edge. All he hopes is that the card reached the place before he got turned into a bloody paste on the ground.

There is going to be one of the two following things that could happen. The card reaches the window edge first or he against the ground. Time is running out fo they guy as he is being pushed down faster and faster. He felt so tensed that he can't even breathe, not that he could when there is the miasma around Alfin like that.

Whether he does believe in greater powers or not, luck has smiled with for now as the card managed to reach the window edge first. It shattered upon landing and Joseph also quickly disintegrates away from her grips and then reappeared on the window ledge. He lets out a breath of relief that he managed to get away from her and the fact that he got to breathe again is something he will never trade it for anything else.

He watched towards the yard below and sees a huge dust cloud created from her collision against the ground. The moment the dust died down, she looked towards him apathetically before creating many blazing portals and aims directly at him.

Joseph quickly realized what is going on and tried to get into his stance despite feeling horribly exhausted. Blazing chains quickly lunged itself out of the portals as they quickly tried to pursue him. He quickly running across the window edge and jumped to the ground when he knew that he will be cornered if he remains here

Knowing that CQC is out of the question, he drew out his assault rifle and opened fire on Alfin, knowing that there isn't anything else he could do against her and... Alfin raised her arm forward and the bullets that Joseph fired just stopped in its track and right in front of Alfin.

"God damn it.." Joseph thought as he realized that he is truly helpless in this situation.

Alfin then tossed all of those bullets back with such extreme speed that they were set ablaze from sheer friction alone. Joseph avoided those attacks as those bullets razed a whole section of the yard itself. At this point, Joseph just wanted to raise his hands and give up but knowing what she would do, he would get ripped apart like a piece of paper no matter what he does.

Those chains keep appearing out of the most unexpected direction in her attempt to ensnare him. Seeing what Alfin is trying to do, Joseph quickly takes out another card and threw it a distance away from him. The wind would then just brings that card wherever it wanted to. It could be landing anywhere but it definitely can't fly outside this courtyard.

And just when he thought it couldn't get worse for him. White-hot spears started to pierce through the ground and approach toward him in an attempt to impale him. He keeps running away from her but he can't hide from her wrath at all. And when he thought could loosen up a bit, a white-hot spear impaled through his calf from behind him.

"Gah!" Joseph grunted as the burning agonies deep inside the afflicted calf course through his body.

And right in that moment of defenseless, the burning chains quickly ensnare and forcing him to kneel as they pulled him down. With the overwhelming agonies that are tearing him apart, Alfin approaches him and looked down on him as if he is some convict that is awaiting his death. He is looking extremely miserable as if there is nothing left but suffering for him.

Alfin then summoned a whole array of autocannons, just to make sure that there will be no remain of him afterward when she is done. Joseph looked in disbelief, is this how he will be ended? Like a convict that is going to end miserably?

Just when he thought this is the end for him, he felt a sudden sensation of something. Something that managed to break through the agonies that he is feeling right now. Right when Alfin opened fire on him, his body disintegrates into nothingness and then reappeared somewhere else. Somewhere that his azure card managed to land, anywhere that isn't where he was right now.

He appeared again and he is still in the courtyard but at least he doesn't see her anywhere near him. He looked at the dust cloud that was raised in the distance when Alfin opened fire those autocannons. He sighed, at least that he is out of the danger for now. But he wouldn't put it past her that she will just let him go like this.

Joseph grunted as the seared and cauterized wound of his calf and not to mention those burn wounds around him created when he got ensnared by those chains. The fact that he got away from her, for now, is nothing but short of a miracle.

Taking out another azure card in his pocket, it was probably the last one he has right now. He just hopes that he and his friend could get out of here together, that is all he wanted in the end. To live for another day.

The moment he tossed the card, a burning chain burst through the ground from behind him as it quickly ensnared him by the neck. It pulled him into the ground and four more chains appeared and bind all of his limps into the ground. As if it wasn't enough, the burning spears quickly protrude through the ground and impaled right into his wrists and heels. At this point, death is anything but certain for him.

The dreading presence approaches him, he looked into her as he screams internally in the inside. To see intense hatred up close like that is a memory that he will never able to erase no matter what. To look into her eye is to stare straight into a turmoil of twisted negative emotions, anger, hatred, loath, scorn, rage, there just no amount of words in the dictionary that could tell all of the raging feelings inside that turmoil of emotions. It was as if she is wrath incarnated, a vessel for pure undistilled rage.

Alfin then leaped up towards the sky and created a huge crater in the process. He looked into the sky and sees that she jumped into an altitude of 500 hundred meters. Not even an execution is this unnerving to him. So many things ran through his mind during the whole time this unfolded, the agonies of being impaled through multiple places, the burning pain that the chain is doing to him while frying every nerve of his limps. The dreading feelings of what Alfin is going to do to him.

The moment she reached the terminal height of her jump. She took out something from inside that blazing portal of her while looking down on him with disdain and grudge. She took a huge missile out of it, and there is something written on it.

_Fritz X_

There is no doubt about it, it was one of the Wunderwaffes for being the world's first precision guided-weapon. With her being driven entirely by rage alone, who knows how much destructive power that the missile is currently having right now. She yelled as she threw that thing down on Joseph. With literally only seconds left before death and no more way to escape. He sighed, that's all of what left he could do. He stared towards the missile as it rushing towards him, he felt oddly serene despite facing closer to death like this.

He remembers about the card that he threw, he aimed it at the top of the cathedral but it would take a miracle just for it to land anywhere on it. Not that it matters to him anymore, all he really could do left is to wait for his end. Memories flooded into his vision as it tried to desperately finds any way to resolve this predicament but there really is no answer when you got pinned down and crippled like this

Suddenly, he felt something, time slowed down to the point that the rain appeared to stop entirely. He noticed that the tip of the finger is beginning to disintegrates. He realized that he is being teleported, the card actually landed. He closed his eyes as the missiles are just about to land on him as he knows that he will get out of here soon.

Reappeared once more at the top of the cathedral, he hardly able to move when both of his heels got impaled and his wrists got pierced through like this. He just glass that he managed to get away from her now and the fact that he managed to land the card right on where he wanted. Right soon afterward, a huge explosion occurred as the whole courtyard got erased in a mere instant, the shockwave is so powerful that the whole cathedral started to shake unstably.

And when that isn't enough, he noticed that the ground started to collapse. It soon reaches the cathedral as the foundation started to collapse along with the ground itself. Joseph being completely paralyzed with the burning agonies in all of his limps decided to close his eyes and accept whatever outcome may reach him. All he could really wish for is that his friend would make it out of here.

Meanwhile, inside the cathedral. Both Arnold and Mathias are still duking it out only to be interrupted as the ground started to collapse, they tried to get away from it but only to be swallowed into the void below them. Soon, the whole mountainside collapsed along with the cathedral itself.

...

...

...

Joseph opened his eyes and sees that he is leaning against the wall, he wanted to move but his limbs refused to do anything he tells it to do. And then he saw her, the girl he fought from before lying on top of the rubble unconsciously. But he doesn't sense any malice and hatred from her anymore, he let out a sigh of relief to know that there is a limit to her wrath's duration or he will get buttfucked otherwise. Now, he just has PTSD when it comes to her.

But what to do now? He still has the emergency teleporting device but he doesn't exactly have what it required to press it which is a functional arm and he lost all of them right from before.

And then he saw it, his friend Mathias who is still fighting back against Arnold but none of them are using their firearms at all. It devolved into just pure brawling and fistfights. He doesn't know what exactly transpired during the time he got knocked out cold but the only thing that seems to be clear here that both of them are still fighting even when they are at the lowest depth right now.

Despite not at their best anymore, each of their blow trading against each other is still more than capable of breaking the place more and more. Each collision created shockwaves that shook the place. Water started to flood into this place as ripples spread from each of their movement.

Mathias charges forward and pulled a left hook but he suddenly found himself punching at nothing. With his opponent not within his sight, he became confused as to where did he go until something placed its hand on his shoulder. With the sudden jolt that spreads through his body, he suddenly felt his knee getting smashed apart from his back as he suddenly got thrown flying into the water face-first.

He grimaced in agony as his knee bleeding out and tainting the water with his blood. He looked back and sees that Arnold is behind him which is unreal because it is like he just phased through him and then attacking him from behind.

Arnold steps forward so that he can finish this charrade for once and for all. However, Arnold didn't notice the smirk on Mathias's face as he quickly getting back on his two feet despite having one of his knees completely shattered. And right at that unprecedented moment, Mathias slammed Arnold's face with a canister of something that he whipped out of nowhere.

The moment the canister got slammed into Arnold's face, it started to exude out a gas-like substance of sorts and Arnold'yelled in agony as he cries tears of blood when he felt his eyes being torn apart.

Mathias took advantage of this moment as he quickly pulled a roundhouse kick with the remaining uninjured leg of his as he puts as much force into it as possible. Arnold while being as blind as a bat due to the injury his eyes sustained, he quickly pulled his fist back and punches as hard as he could wherever his instinct told him to.

Their attacks collided resulting in a huge blast of shockwaves that soared across the depth of this crater. It is so powerful that even Joseph can feel it and Alfin woke up from the shockwave that shook her inside. An unconteseted fight with no side willing to back down.

Arnold felt something inside the arm he used to punch feels wrong, and then it hits him. His whole right arm fractured from the sheer intense force that it is forced to subject to, even if his whole arm is fractured, his fist still strive forward no matter what.

Mathias smirked, thinking that victory is in his side only to realize that Arnold quickly turned the table on him immediately. Angel's feathers started to form around his fist as he forced himself forward no matter what. Soon, cracks started to form around Mathias's leg as it quickly spreads out and reaching his main body along with blood seeping through it. Mathias screams in agony as he couldn't believe this turn of event is happening to him.

Arnold continues to push forward and in the next moment, Mathias's leg got splattered into a bloody mess as he got knocked into the crater's wall and landed near Joseph. Feathers trail behinds where Arnold's fist has gone before they dissipate into thin air.

"Tough luck, huh? Are you fine?" Joseph said as he tried to smile for Mathias.

"Do I look fine to you?" Mathias said through the agony that is overwhelming him right now.

"Heh... Can you press the escape device for me? Both of my arms are ruined... And by the way, I would just going to say this to you. You just only made it through the prelimanary" Joseph said.

Arnold tried to moves toward them but he is in no condition to even fight, let alone killing anyone. At this point, he just wanted this conflict to end now. How it ends doesn't matter to him.

Both of them teleported away and created a deafening noise and disorienting flash. Afterward, they are gone without a trace. Arnold knelt to the ground and sighed, he just glad that this is over. The next time they meet will be long and not belong to any foreseeable future. Holding his fractured right arm, Arnold wonders just what did he do to get such a power like this. He is a soldier, that is what he knows for sure but he is sure that he isn't anything biblical in the first place.

"Arnold! Are you okay?" Alfin quickly approaches him and check his condition.

Arnold does not answer anything, he tried to open his eyes but dear Lord does it burn so hard when he tried to do so.

"Arnold, please lies on the ground so that I can try to check what is wrong with your eyes." Alfin said to him.

Arnold decided to heed her words and thus he decided to lay himself on the ground while his head lies on her lap. Alfin then checks the affliction done on his eyes and she suddenly gasped when she saw the wound done on him. However, he doesn't know if she seems to know what to do because she decided to place her hand on his eyes and chanted something.

Suddenly, he felt a bright light somehow reaching through the ruined vision of his and suddenly, he no longer felt any more pain. He opened his eyes and sees her figure although a bit hazy, he can still see it is clearly her.

"Look... What you just got hit with is not your average tear gas. Not even tear gas would mutilate your eyes that badly. And I am even surprised that your eyes are still recoverable at that." Alfin said.

"What did I got hit with?" Arnold asked.

"You know about the Holocaust? Where 6 million people died there? They were ruthlessly slaughtered and I shall spare you from all the details that happened there but what you got hit is the mustard gas that is used in the gas chambers there. The same kind, downright into molecular structure. The only difference there is that it got mana-charged to harm even Servants." Alfin said straightforwardly.

"So then... how did you managed to extract it out of my eyes?" Arnold asked.

"Do you forgot my True Name already? Just remember that I am still Hitler at my heart and thus anything I have my hands on, I could easily retract with ease. It just that it is only thanks to you that I am still seeing the light of the next day." Alfin said.

Arnold understood that, while Alfin's personality pretty much deviated away from the would-be of actual history's Hitler, he shouldn't ever forget that she is still very much that person.

"Now let me tends to your arm. I might not be a medic like Irisviel or Desmond but I shall do my best for you." Alfin said.

Alfin then takes a bandage and a splint out of the blazing portal she created and no, it is not burning at all. She placed the splint along his arm then wraps it around it and then injects some anesthetic into it. Arnold felt the pain soothes by a huge margin as he lets out a sigh of relief.

"I give it about 30 minutes before your arm completely fixes itself. So you have nothing to worry here." Alfin said.

"By the way, when did this place become so foggy?" Arnold asked.

"And you asked that first instead of wondering how can we get out of here?" Alfin said.

He is right though, rain would be one thing but fog for some reason is here despite they are getting closer to the eye of the storm. If there is any fog, it would have been blown away by the storm already yet here it is.

Suddenly, Alfin stared straight into the sky as if she noticed something is approaching here. Arnold remembers that she has the power to shift her perspective into the different directions which allows her to look at something despite it literally behind a huge ass obstacle.

"Alfin, what is wrong?" Arnold asked.

"Something is approaching, we need to get out of here, now!" Alfin said as she rushes around to find anything that could help them get out.

"Huh?" Arnold said in surprise.

"Do I need to tell you how much are we in deep shit right now? This place is 150m deep and none of us can't just jump that high since our strength is sapped to the point that is a Herculean Task." Alfin said.

"What did you see?" Arnold asked as the tension started to rise once more.

"A red biplane, that's it. But it is carrying something that when I analyzed it with the spell that Shirou taught me, I realized just how close we are to death and the true intention of that duo we fight earlier." Alfin said as she keeps searching for anything in this desperate time.

"But why us? And what did they intent to do with us?" Arnold asked.

"Think about it, it is only us who actually enabled everyone else to make this far. They may have pulled their slacks and their immense strength helped tremendously. But none of them have any Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm except me, if it weren't for me, none of them would have make it through even the first wall without suffering casualties or cost too much time in their efforts to do so." Alfin said as she finally caught attention of something.

The catheral organ, it has also collapsed into this place. Although completely ruined, its sheer size and the amount of metal it has, this thing is a perfect catalyst for her. She can use her power to consume the whole things to replenish her mana and recreate the one thing that could get them out together immediately.

"Wait, just where do I place in this whole mess to begin with?" Arnold asked.

"Not even I know. I can even argue that you were caught in this mess because you followed me and always got on the wrong end of the stick all of the time because of it. But there is something about you isn't normal, like how you temporarily became an angel? Pretty sure no known Heroic Spirit can do that, and if they could, they would be too much for the Throne of Heroes to contain anyway. Either way, time is running out for both of us and after this conversation end, we will have only 2 seconds at best so hold on tight." Alfin said while turning the whole organ into mana dust as they flows into her.

"What?" Arnold said before he suddenly got enveloped in a bright light and can't seems to sense anything else anymore.

In just the next second, they quickly flew off this place just as when something was dropped into it. A bright azure flash appeared afterward in the next second as it quickly annihilates anything surrounding it. To be fair, nothing of value was lost from the destrution of the place seen it was desolated and ruined when they made it there in the first place.

Arnold opened his eyes and felt extremely crammed, like being shoved into a tight corner. He looked around and sees that he is in something and saw the sky moving backward. He then realized it, both of them are flying. He looked at the control panel and bewildered at how complex it was that he can't possible keeps up with all of these counters and buttons and switches. And then he sees her, controling whatever they are riding on with such skills that he can't fathom

"Alfin, where are we?" Arnold asked as he finds himself a different place.

"Welcome to the first jet fighter in the world, Arnold. One of my Wunderwaffes. Armed to teeth and moves ungodly fast, only a select few NPs could ever hope to match this. The Messerschmitt Me-262." Alfin said.

Realizing what she meant, he knew that fighter planes did exist back in his era but to see so much things in display compare to the simpler built of it is quite jarring to say the least.

"So what do we do now?" Arnold asked.

"What else? To hunt that old geyser down for luring us to our own execution. Hate to say this though, he is smart for attempting to split us apart from each other so that we can become destabilized and get finished off separately. Although he should have known that we are a lot more capable than how he assess us and we are still very much powerful even when alone. Are you prepared for this? Because there is no turning back left!" Alfin said boisterously.

"What?!" Arnold said in surprise for he hasn't processed whatever is going on right now.

"Too late!" Alfin said before she switches on the main thruster as the jet fighter begins to rush towards the red biplane in the distance.

Raw skills versus technology, whoever wins is up to fate to decide. But Alfin's beating heart keeps roaring more for the lust of wrath itself. She knew damn well that she will not allow herself to succumb to it once more. At least to hold off from it as long as she could.

And so the Baron has finally peeked his head out and smirked for the duel in the court of his will finally begins.

* * *

_**"._.""._.""._."**_

_**Path of Hatred**_

_**"._.""._.""._."**_

* * *

**_Words of God: _****_For this part, play Two Steps From Hell - Star Sky_**

Alfin opened fire first as the bullets soar across the dark gray sky towards the Red Baron. The man noticed it as he quickly directs his plane out of harm's way. Both of them weaves through the cloud while leaving a silver line from behind them. Bullets flying through the sky as the hazy clouds still raining down upon them no matter the altitudes they are in.

Chasing each other's back so that they can shot each other down. Despite the Red Baron's plane is from WW1, Servants are about their metaphysical nature and thus his can move just as fast as any jet fighter like her. It was an even fight if it shows anything like that.

Both of them keep up with dogfighting each other. Trying to find a way to approach others from their back so that they can blindside them. But Alfin is fighting against the man who mastered aviation warfare during its infancy. His skills with his plane are without a doubt unparalleled to her and will pose a massive challenge just to find any chance to shoot him for her.

When Alfin managed to finally have a chance to have him on her crosshair, she unhesitantly pressed the firing button and thus the man also quickly moves out of the way but not without having a few shots landed on his plane. However, the damage is illegible at best.

They keep going on with the dogfight like that, the trails of white smoke they leave behind can be visibly seen from anywhere at all. Kiritsugu and Irisviel who are on top of the tower noticed it first and wondering what is going on right now. And then Larry, Desmond, Ruby who are looking at the lines that keep threading itself in the sky. And then Illya who is looking at attentively as if it was a once in a lifetime phenomenon. Richard, Pierce, Gudao and recently awoken Shirou and Kuro managed to even notice it despite the dense fog right now.

They keep writing billions of lines up in the air, it became such a mess that even the Gordian's knot looks far simpler. With only one goal in each other's mind, to pursue and shot down each other, anyone who does so first is the loser. Meanwhile, Alfin's mind is going through millions of calculations of pathing and which path she should take. Her visions turn red briefly at times for only a brief moment and then became normal again. It keeps repeating like that at a time and sometimes even multiple times at short notice

She felt something is going wrong with her mind, she keeps earing the voice screaming at the depth of her heart. She ignores it as she focused her sights on the Red Baron once more and tried to open fire on him no matter what. She stubbornly wanted her enemy to get shot down no matter what.

"Alfin, let me help you with this one. Open the hatch!" Arnold said as he drew his shotgun out of the pocket.

Alfin just does what Arnold said without thinking about it once. She flips the switch as the lid sprung open. Right at that time, the Red Baron just got right behind them and returned fire at her. Arnold then quickly jumped off the fighter plane as he collides with the Red Baron's plane. Weaving through the bullet hail and he managed to reach the Red Baron through his dexterity alone.

He managed to cling onto the plane's wing but the Red Baron decided to spin his plane erratically in an attempt to throw him off, Arnold desperately holding onto it as he felt the whole world turning upside down on him. Soon, he found himself completely nauseated and his grips on the plane are slowly being loosen. The pilot inside then drew out his revolver and aimed it squarely into Arnold's head.

However, during his distracted moment, Alfin managed to slow down and get nearby the Red Baron without his notice. She quickly tiled the plane and giving Arnold the push required. She then bumped the wing of the Baron's biplane from the bottom and the force pushed Arnold up to the top and also makes the pilot accidentally dropping the revolver to the ground. The moment he got to the top of the plane and stabilized himself, he quickly draws out his shotgun and before he could do anything, the Baron quickly makes a sharp dive as he thrusts the plane towards the ground.

Arnold who wasn't prepared for such a move like that quickly used the secondary trigger and fired the grappling hook towards the biplane. Fortunately for him though that it managed to latch onto the plane itself. However, he is pulled to everywhere it goes and he has no control of wherever the thing is heading.

Alfin noticed it and quickly dives alongside with the biplane. She tried to pursue the Red Baron but such a sharp dive like this can't be good at all. She reads the altitude meters as the thing drops sharply faster than Achilles running away from Penth. Soon, the Red Baron in front of her disappeared into the fog as she desperately tried to pursue that phantom. Soon, she entered all that could be left to see is a pillar of smoke that she left behind.

With the fog started to cover the ground, she decided to trust her instinct and decided to pull the control rod back so that she can halt the diving process. Feelings the blood and adrenaline rushing through her veins. Soon, she managed to fly in a really low altitude with only two meters above the ground while the fog limits her vision down to not even 2 meters away from her. The stakes are high as she could crash into something at moment notice but she then realized that something isn't right. She looked at the radar and notice that he is right behind her!

The Red Baron then opened fire on her right when it was at her back. Due to the tight place that she is in, she can't turn or slow down or anything at all. There is no way for her to attack back properly like this. Seeking any possible solutions she noticed the landing gear switch and think for a moment. Right at the next moment, a bullet almost grazed her and she quickly flicks the switch immediately as the landing gear quickly activated as she then lows down her plane while still going at full speed. The moment it touched the ground, the friction alone snapped the landing wheel as it got flung to the Red Baron from behind.

The Red Baron realized what is approaching him and quickly makes an abrupt turn for it. Although he avoided the head-on collision, the wheel still managed to dent his biplane by a considerable amount when it struck his plane's wing. It seems that what she just did is unacceptable to him as he yelled at her for doing something like what she just did.

The Red Baron then looked back to see that Arnold is still trying to cling on to him. He quickly decided to get rid of him forcefully as he deliberately flies near buildings then turning abruptly so that Arnold will get pendulum swung into the buildings. With each swing that Arnold got thrown into, each of those buildings got seeped quite a huge amount of mana and thus they were so durable to the point it is hurt like a normal person get smashed against the concrete. And if that isn't enough, he decided to run straight into the building so that Arnold would have to let go at some point.

The Red Baron, or more exactly, Manfred von Richtofen. The man who made a name for himself and an actual baron at that as the most skilled aviation fighter in WW1 and when it was at its infancy. The guy just keeps flying at anywhere and keeps swinging Arnold against any building that is still standing. Arnold wanted to pull himself toward the plane but the pain of being constantly thrown around started to get onto his nerve. The plane flew over many people that Richtofen didn't notice at all. Shirou, Kuro whom he came across didn't shot him down in instant is because they were too exhausted to do any real combat. Kiritsugu and Irisviel noticed the red biplane before it came crash through the ruined tower that they were standing on. Flew over Illya who was bewildered at what she is seeing. And finally Desmond and Larry as they looked confusedly at what just flew over them at the time.

Soon, both of them fly out of the foggy area when it is proven to be too risky to continue to do something like that. Both of their planes are smoking from the damage that both of them done on each other, it is quite a feat that Alfin managed to fight equally against somebody with far greater skills than her.

She looked at the red biplane and noticed something isn't right. She looked carefully and saw that modified sawn-off that Arnold used still cling onto the plane but she doesn't see him anywhere at all. Her mind instantly shifted to the worse possibility that her lover is-

"No, I need to reassure myself. He might just let go of the gun and might still be fine. Just keep calm and fulfill what you are supposed to be doing and- **What am I even kidding!? Why I am still trying to fool myself that everything is still fine!? You bastard! You'll pay for what you did to Arnold!" **Alfin tried to calm down upon realizing what happened to Arnold and then given into her rage.

She quickly pursues the Red Baron as fast as she could. Chasing him through the ruined buildings of the city below them. Both of their conditions are far from okay and if anyone made anymore fuck-up, that person will end up in the blaze of defeat.

They continue to dogfight despite anymore and they will cross the line of no return. The sounds of autocannons being unleashed, missiles from her jet fighter being fired but Richtofen seems to understand how those missiles work as he always managed to evade them although for most of the time, he got really close to be blasted into smithereens.

Through each of their shot, their blood splatters their plane even more, even if they didn't take any direct hit. The sheer tension and rising stakes keep making the contingency of the situation escalates exponentially with each second passes.

Both of them looking really bad right now, Richtofen's biplane engine is smoking like no tomorrow and her is just having no short amount of damage on it along with the windshield on the verge of shatter. They keep chasing and dogfight each other as if it is the only thing in their mind as they race through the desolated city Berlin's final front.

Alfin groaned as adrenaline and rage rushing through her body, bloodshot started to appear in her eyes as rage started to overtake her even further. Blood dripping from the grazed wounds that she suffered. Soon, she no longer relies on reason anymore as the pure unadulterated wrath and hatred became the one behind the wheel.

**_Burn those pages for me_**

**_I cannot erase those times of sins_**

**_I cannot be loved so set me free_**

**_I cannot deliver your love_**

**_Or caress your soul so_**

**_Burn those pages for me_**

**_I cannot embrace the touch that you give_**

**_I cannot find solace in your words_**

**_I cannot deliver your love or caress your soul_**

Their pursuit to kill each other continues to create even more of those silver lines on this war-torn sky. At this point, the whole sky looks like being scribbled entirely out of white pencil on a dark grey paper.

Alfin looks intently and focused to a deadly degree. If looks can kill, her gaze alone will create another Holocaust. Her eyes are filled with intense rage and burning hatred that could scorch this earth apart, Meanwhile, Richtofen squinting his eyes while the sky is tearing apart itself because of their fight. He doesn't know how this will drag on for how long but his mind is formulating a plan to finish off this whole fight when the chance comes.

Both of them continue to unleash their armaments against each other, not caring for the collateral destruction of their missed shots landed on anywhere aren't them at all. Both of them yelled as tension intensifies and reaching the apex. However, this time, Richtofen decided to play his ace, now.

And instantly, a squadron quickly appeared as they quickly burst through the fog itself. Painted in colorful palettes to the point it is jarring and eye-hurting if stared at for long. They quickly assembled and assists Richtofen in any way they all could.

Suddenly being pit against 5 opponents at once. Not even superior technology would help when you got ganged on like this. Being fired from all the sides, she refuses to accept her fate no matter what. She held the trigger while her eyes turned completely blood-red, signifies that she has turned completely into wrath incarnated. Bullets rained like a storm as she desperately struggles to fight back against this 1v5 situation where her chance of turning the tide is near zero.

Ammunition started to dwindle, her blood splatters across the control interface, she yelled nonstop as she held the trigger with enough force to crush the whole control stick apart. All of them started to play in front of her as her time perception slowed down.

Everything is moving so slow, she can see her blood flying in the air, seeing the windshield shatters apart, seeing brass cartridges falling out like rain, seeing the whole jet fighter of her being torn apart by the overwhelming suppressing firepower, seeing the ammo counter slowly reaching zero when it used to have about five-digit worth of ammo in the beginning, seeing the nuts and bolts scattering from the damage it is being forced to sustain. And finally, feeling the last bullet of her fired.

When there is no longer anything being fired, she broke out of her madness's grip and noticed that the ammo counter reached zero while everything else around her is trying to kill her. With nothing left that she can do, she let go of the trigger and breathed deeply in while her vehicle is being torn apart by her opponent, so much for trying to pay back.

She felt oddly serene despite being literally at the death's door as she looked at the outside and feel the wind grazing over her. She closed her eyes as if accepting her death, during that time, she remembers everything that happened until this point. The bonds she made, the day she revealed who she truly is, her opening up to Arnold and his confession for her.

_Arnold..._

The moment she received that epiphany. She felt something is cracking up inside of her as her gaping wounds started to drip blood on her pretty face. She tried to wipe those blood away but instead of wiping the blood, it wiped the last restrain she has over her feelings. She loved him too much that she can't accept her death no matter what. She refuses to die here no matter what.

She started to let out a deafening cry that pierced through the surrounding noise and then she made a forceful turning with the tattering jet fighter of her and making a suicidal charge towards Richtofen. That move of her completely caught him off guard as he didn't anticipate that she would charges toward him head-on despite she is flying through the torrents of bullets.

She then rips off the lid of the jet fighter and climbed out of it, whipping out the golden pistol out of her imaginary armory and then the moment comes. The jet fighter collided into the biplane and rips it apart in half. It didn't strike the main body but Alfin jumped out of it at the last moment and aimed her pistol right at Richtofen's chest.

_DIE_

A single shot was fired, as the biplane having lost half of its body, it can only be destined to crash. Alfin meanwhile used up the last of her willpower before she closed her eyes as she descends into the ground below her at the altitudes of 30km above the ground.

Richtofen held onto his chest as it started to bleed profusely, she struck him at his conceptual weak point and started to feel worse already. But it is not the end for him yet, it needs to be much more powerful than that to even taking him down. While it may hurt like hell, he can still make it back even if he has this wound.

Just as when his broken biplane phased through the cloud. Suddenly, he is in a new one, good as new like nothing happened. The thing here is that he actually has two planes, this one is the Focker Dr.I, the one that was used in the final mission of his. And thus he is most likely at his worst right now and can be open to danger but there is nothing here left and thus he has nothing to fear.

"Report to HQ, we have confirmed the neutralization of one Servant. Requesting re-" Richtofen tried to speak through the communicator only to sense something approaching him.

A large bomber plane suddenly burst through the cloudline as it quickly approaching him and its pilot is Alfin, once again! She came back with vengeance greater than before as she quickly draws out the blazing portals and created a large array of weapons alongside the plane. Richtofen noticed and assembled his team once more to take down the bomber.

The whole battle unfolded as both sides unleash all of what they had once more. All gloves are off, no holding back anymore. The sheer firepower between the two of them is so staggering that it is like a war compressed into one singular battle. Explosions filled the sky, ballistics raining down like a storm. Both sides started to take heavy damage as Alfin's bomber being shredded apart from the storm of bullets that it is being forced to endure. The Flying Circus with each member being shot down the further they remain in combat. It appeared that this is a mutual destruction of both sides until...

Arnold stepped out from the back fin of the bomber plane, his clothes are in tatters as bruises and wounds filled across his body. But other than that, he still very much okay compare to Alfin and Richtofen right now. He started to run on top of the bomber plane while ballistics are hailing down upon him. Time slowed down for him as he strifes with each step of his against the tide of fate.

The moment he reached the head of the bomber, he takes out his T-Gewehr directly from his imaginary armory as he aims the gun decisively at Richtofen and crouched for better accuracy and stance. He only has one chance and he can't allow himself to screw it all up at this far. Feelings the gale rushing against him, each bullet nearly grazes his body, his mind drives toward only one target and only one conclusion alone. His eyes see true as he aims the ironsight directly towards the bullet wound that Alfin inflicted prior to this fight.

He pulled the trigger and the bullet soars across the torn sky at hypersonic speed, weaving through everything else as it made its way towards Richtofen. And in the next moment, Richtofen felt a huge ache as he felt something pierced through his chest. He looked down only to see a huge gaping wound right on his chest. At that moment, he realized what just happened to him as he lets out his words.

_Ka...putt..._

Right at the moment afterward, both sides no longer attack each other anymore. All of them started to descend towards the ground with the only thing remain is the requiem of silence. Arnold became speechless and don't know what to say at all, he didn't expect himself to finally do it at all. He looked at the red biplane as it descends towards the ground the bomber plane he is on is also doing the same.

He sighed as he steps forward and jumped into the cockpit and then sits on the co-pilot seat nearby Alfin. She looks a lot calmer than before now that Arnold is with her once again. Slowly, they burst through the cloudline and the blazing wreckage that is called their plane slowly reaches toward the ground. The weather has cleared up slightly a bit and thus the burning trail behind the plane shows where it will crash land. Pretty much everyone who was separated from each other now knows where to rendezvous as they quickly mobilize toward it.

In just an hour later, everyone reached the crash site and sees the plane has also skids quite a considerable distance during its crash landing and destroyed a part of the urbanized area. They reached the wreckage and saw Arnold completely unhinged at what just occurred while Alfin completely fainted when she finally has done the crash landing process. She looked so peaceful that it is quite easy to forget that she is Hitler.

"Man, quite a day for what would be like the possibly largest scale conflict right there," Gudao said as he tried to catch his breath.

At least everyone can have a rest after this and have a good time for once that they managed to make it through this fight with no casualty.

A chilling gale flew through the atmosphere, Larry suddenly gazed back at where he thought the gale came from. There is something about it that isn't right to him, like a sense of familiarity yet distant. Like a sense of nostalgia but also accompanied by a feeling of dread. He stares at something in the distance away while everyone is talking as if he got separated into his own world.

"You just have to be back now, huh?" Larry whispered to himself and for nobody to hear.


	17. Pure White Reaper

**Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

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_**Chapter 17: Pure White Reaper**_

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"So you somehow managed to fly with angel wings?!" Desmond asked while he checks on Alfin's condition

"Kinda... I first used that thing to levitate and then soon I kinda just moved on my own with it. Dear Lord though, I just feel that I started to disconnect myself from what I am supposed to be. I am a soldier, not a mythological being." Arnold said jokingly while trying to clear the mood.

"So how did you manage to get to the bomber plane that Alfin rode on?" Shirou asked.

"Look, the sky is vast, alright? I didn't carry anything that could track her. Don't even get me started on the cloudy sky. It is only when I find her descending from the sky did I manage to get to her. She looked really exhausted and most likely on her last leg at that time. And that Red Baron guy really did a number on me by swinging me like some sorts of rag against many buildings at high speed." Arnold said before he tried to catch his breath again.

"But still, you said that she is on her last leg, right? It is just hard to think she still has enough mana to recreate a large bomber plane like that." Kiritsugu said.

"Forgot to tell you that the plane used _my _mana that she took from me just so that we can have the final chance to take the Red Baron down. While I'm not looking like it, I am pretty exhausted that I wanted to just crash right now." Arnold explained as tiredness started to appear on his face.

And then the guy closed his eyes and then collapsed into the ground. He then sleeps like a log and became oblivious to all who care in this world. Everyone sighed, this is by far the largest conflict that they have gone through, to see the Nazis pull out all of the stops like this just seems so wild to them.

"Larry?" Richard said when he noticed the man is looking at something in the distance.

The man in the white coat seems to be staring off towards the distance as if he was captivated by something. It was only when Desmond came and touch him on the shoulder did Larry broke out of his line of thought.

"Oh? Uh, nothing... There's nothing wrong here!" Larry said in a panic as he saw Desmond tapping him from behind.

"Larry, are you fine? It is rare to see you being captivated by something so mundane like that.". Desmond said.

"Nothing!" Larry said as he raised both his hands and walk away from Desmond.

Desmond finds whatever Larry said a bit suspicious and ominous but considering the man himself, he decided that he should put it at the back of his mind.

"So... are we going to take a rest?" Pierce asked the fellow Master he accompanied along.

"Yeah... Both of us were exhausted and both of our Servants are the same. Any further movement and we will be in danger immediately.

And so they made their decision, they decided to build a temporary resting point so that they can regain their strength after that battle. Needless to say though, it was a short-lived peace but one that is required nonetheless.

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_**Delving Into Darkness**_

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**Meanwhile at the Shadow Border**

"Damn it, just how much things did they hide from us? Not only just WW2 stuff but even things that are otherwise just plain unreal." Waver said as he looked through the decrypted information.

"What are all of these Relics and stuff? Collapse Fluid? What the hell is all of these? I just simply can't wrap my mind around it." Sitonai said as she also doing her part of the work.

"I think that this rabbit hole just goes straight through the core by now. All of these would easily make a normal person insane by just the sheer unbelievability." Miyu said as she felt her mind could go haywire at any moment.

"You know... Why don't we take a break for a bit? I think we push ourselves enough for now." Waver said as he stood up and walks toward the path that would lead to the bathroom if Sitonai remembered correctly.

And so Waver concedes temporarily, leaving the two sisters behind up to whatever they left behind right now. They sighed, they have been getting sidetracked by pretty much everything else in the UN database. They have been trying to find anything related to WW2 but the sheer amount of stuff that they have to go through is just staggering even for a Servant.

"I wish there is a way to sort all of them out. Even a Servant would be going to take a long while to search for the right stuff here." Sitonai said.

"Huh? You guys are searching for something?" A girl said to them while standing beside where they are.

"Wah!? Where did you come from?!" Sitonai said in surprise to see a person said near them that isn't Waver.

"I just came across you two searching for something and you all seem to be frustrated by something. I don't know what you two are trying to do but if it is something that I can help then I don't mind lending you two a hand." The woman said.

"Uhm... Okay? Can you help us sort through this mountain of information?" Sitonai asked.

"That's it!? I can do one better than that! I am going to create a search engine right so that you can filter out for stuff you wanted to see. Even with accuracy better than your average supercomputer!" The girl said as she boasts greatly.

"Uh... Who are you again?" Miyu asked.

"Oh, sorry. The name is Ada Lovelace. The first computer programmer in the world!" The girl said as she introduces herself to the two sisters.

"HOLY! Sorry that I didn't know right from the get-go. I mean you can write a computer program effortlessly, right?" Sitonai said.

Ada Lovelace, the mother of computer science... is this little girl who is just a bit taller than Sitonai. Bit long black hair that is tied to a twin-tail. Wearing a lab coat all of the time and always wearing that glasses which is redundant for it is just there for decoration. She is in charge of maintaining all of Shadow Border's processing units. According to Shirou Emiya, the timeline they are in right now for some reason is the only one with Ada in it, making her the only asset that they have while the others have to do without.

"You don't have to say sorry about that, you know? It is fine, pretty much every old-age Heroic Spirits doesn't know about me but that's fine because meeting my friend Babbage is just a good enough deal for me." Ada said while having a smile on her face.

"Okay then, you can try to sorts out everything here since our inferior minds are just incomparable to your 'big brain'.". Sitonai said as she pushes the laptop towards Ada.

Ada then sits on the couch and proceeds to type thousands of lines of code before a second could pass. Being the mother of computer science is surely feel like standing on top of your own world.

"So... Can your computing ability be used in combat because it is hard to see if it can even fight against anyone at all.". Miyu asked.

"Being the pioneer of computer science means I could change the world's fundamental rules like a computer program. I could tamper with the law of physics, the fabric of reality, adding or removing stuff from it as if they were blocks of codes. However, there is so much that I can remove or add before the thing would go haywire and hard reset into the default state before my tampering. And no, I can't just delete Servants as if they were codes that I didn't like." Ada said casually about her power with such calmness that is eerie.

Both Sitonai and Miyu clam up when hearing about Ada's power like that. To see someone could tamper with the world like a program is just unreal although the world could undo all of it if she abused too much, it is still unbelievable to see someone doing that being such a closely modern Servant like her.

"Done, now you can search for anything you like in the UN database. I also decrypted all of the information in there since I got bored with making search engines alone but of course, that none of them could even stand up to me in the first place." Ada said as she turns the laptop around to Sitonai.

The database looks a lot more organized than before and with a search bar on top making the process of looking for things far easier.

"So what do we search first?" Sitonai asked.

"Azure. That's what we would search first.". Waver said as he appeared out of nowhere.

"Oh, okay.". Miyu said as she typed the word "azure" into the search bar.

The moment she typed the word "azure" in, a single result was shown. All four of them looked at it in anticipation considering what this could mean.

Miyu clicked on it and an info dump was presented in front of them. All of them breathe heavily and as they read through the classified document.

_This classified information is reserved only for the highest-ranking personnel to read. If not having any clearance to read over this information, you are enforced to report to your superior or destroy this information in 60 seconds upon reading. Failure to comply will be punishable by death._

_In 1917, during WW1. A report of an unknown meteorite has fallen into a raging battlefront of Passchendaele, bypassed all of the previously known means of detection and none of the soldiers in the front are aware of the meteorites existence. Its extraction was only made possible at the end of the battle where a magus was sent over to extract it._

_Until 1944, breakthrough revolving this material was finally made. During the prior time before so, it was stashed in the deepest storage unit in Mage's Association._

_The material gives out an azure hue and it seems that wherever this place goes, rain also follows it. It is hypothesized that this material is capable of altering the weather whether by mystical or scientific means which wasn't properly analyzed even till the shutdown of its research. It is also believed it is the reason why the rain of Passchendaele is so severe is because of its weather-altering property._

_These following remaining pieces of information are what remained after the incident which led to its shutdown and the facility that is used to research it._

_-Molecule weight of 0 g/mol. Due to initial impurity, it is the only reason this material managed to reach through the earth's atmosphere without being halted._

_-Metallic nature despite the impossibility revolving around the molecule weight._

_-Radiation higher than many superheavy elements. Estimated to be approximately 500,000 mSv. Staying nearby this material without proper protection results in death immediately._

-_It can be refined into higher purity form through a complicated process revolving around a combination of thaumaturgy and nuclear fusion._

_-Breaks the law of equivalence exchange as alchemizing this material only resulted in more of it._

_-Seem to display magnetic property although the trace is too faint to make any real difference. The size of its magnetic field is monstrous, however._

_At first, the researching process went smoothly, at least at the surface. However, the tension started to rise in roughly 50 days into the research as signs of aggression started to form between its research member. At first, it was believed that the discord formed due to stress and ongoing tension but the further the research goes, the more aggressive the researching member displays between each other to the point that cooperation was impossible. _

_This results in all of its member sent to the asylum as therapists diagnosed that all of them has gone psychopathic and thus a new team was designated to continue the research of this mysterious material._

_However, the same happened to the new team and many others who were made to assign over the projects. It is then believed that it also has the ability to turn people to the aggressive side and devolves them into primal instinct and rage and thus requiring a daily rotation of each research personnel to avoid primal devolution._

_The final straw for this project is when the research team when berserk suddenly and messed up the entire process of refining and resulted in a huge containment breach and caused this material to filled the atmosphere of the facility in azure particles. Those who were breathed in it suddenly fell ill and then collapsed into those same azure-like dust and spreading the vector of corruption to the others. Only a few survivors remain and the whole facility was locked down indefinitely and the whole project was shut down upon the danger of the material. The location of this facility was then erased from all databases and never meant to see the light of the day._

_This has also resulted in its designation as one of the few humanity-extinction levels of danger by the Atlas Institute on par of the seven superweapons._

All four of them went silent upon this revelation, it is all connected after all. Judgment in the color of the sky, it seems that it has also come to their world too although successfully contained. The Singularity is most likely what happened if the containment was unsuccessful and put the whole world into calamity.

"I knew it, there is indeed something wrong inside that world. I just knew damn well that this is most likely what happened." Waver said as he grunted more and more.

"By the way, I have a feeling that you have a personal reason to ask me to come here, right?" Ada said to him.

"Huh? You asked her to come?! Why did you hide it to us?!" Sitonai asked as she felt Waver hid something important from them.

"I have a few reasons, but one is that I can't trust Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty to disclose any of this to others. This is, after all, a piece of highly classified information that the UN would fight tooth and nail for its secrecy. I doubt that both of them would want to blow up the last good relationship that Chaldea has." Waver explained one of the few reasons.

"And the second?" Miyu asked.

"I have a feeling that they solved all of these out already." Waver said.

Tension started to rise, this has opened a whole Pandora's box that they didn't know about. Distrust started to rise, are they going to succumb to the effect of the azure judgment even if not under its influence. Or they will find a way to prevail against the discord between all they know? Who knows but the tide is about to change soon.

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_**Feelings in Hardship**_

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"I started to miss that mansion already.". Illya said as she tried to situate herself on a wooden stool that is not even remotely comfortable.

"Yeah... Not only there is nothing left but this place being intact, there isn't even anything to stop this chilling wind from blowing into this place." Kuro said as she felt her spine shivers as the chilling gust blows through this derelict apartment.

The intensity of the last battle that they went through was so great that they ended up resulting in many buildings completely shattered and collapsed. This was the closest one that they can still take shelter in. Even so, they will need all of the rest they could get before moving forwards toward the final destination. The Heart of the Reich.

Arnold leans on the wall and sleeping like a stack of bricks while Alfin is leaning on his broad and sturdy shoulder as she sleeps. They look so at peace that not even when the world around them is collapsing would they wake up.

The sounds of flame crackling can be heard in the kitchen, or... what is remaining of it. Shirou is attending kitchen duty and trying to whip up some meal in order to revitalize everyone here. The Shadow Border could send the ingredient over but anything more would require a leyline and they have already moved past one long ago. The old brick oven that stood there being the only source of warmth in this freezing hell.

"Shirou... Can I use the oven, please?" Kiritsugu said to his son from the back.

"Uh? No? I mean, why do you need to use the oven, to begin with!?" Shirou said in surprise as he is still trying to focus on the food.

"I just need to have some boiled water in order to make coffee, you know? This is the only place left where I could heat something up." Kiritsugu said to his son.

"Jii-san. The last time you used the kitchen, you somehow burned the place down. You burned the kitchen... just to boil some water!" Shirou said as he emphasizes on the fact that Kiritsugu can cause destruction even with the most mundane task.

"Please, this is important," Kiritsugu said as he started to get impatient with Shirou's attitude.

"Jii-san. Do I have to wake Alfin up just to teach you how to use a fucking oven!?" Shirou said as he also doesn't want his father to get anywhere near the last kitchenware in this place.

Both of them started to argue with each other and while they are arguing, another person got into the kitchen only to see the argument that is unfolding right in front of them.

"Stop!" That person said.

Both Shirou and Kiritsugu turned towards the entrance of the place and saw Iri there looking a bit disappointed at both of them.

"Kiri... I am sure that your son has a good reason to not let you use the oven but Shirou, you shouldn't drive your father away like that." Iri said as she reprimands both of them.

"Fine... But only if you observe what Jii-san is doing. If he burned the oven, we will have no choice but to march towards the fifth wall while being starved. That's the amount of trust I am placing on you right now and I hope you don't screw it up." Shirou said as he begrudgingly exits the kitchen.

"Sigh... all of this just to boil some water..." Kiritsugu sighed before he placed a kettle on top of the oven and Iri focused her magecraft for a bit to create a spark of flame just to heat them up.

Shirou got out of the kitchen and sees that Desmond and Larry are playing cards with each other. He decided to jump in a bit since he has nothing else to do anyway.

"Okay, you go first," Desmond said.

And Larry decided to go first with a 3 of Heart in which Desmond just threw in a card with a higher rank and Larry did the same. Soon, Desmond threw in an ace and Larry signaled to pass since he has no higher card or just to save it for an emergency.

"Okay then..." Desmond said as he whips out two 8 cards and placed it in front of Larry.

Larry then calmly placed two 2 cards and Desmond realized that he has no better card to play and thus passed the turn. And as if the tide was turned completely, Larry placed his whole deck lined up entirely from 3 to 7. He placed his whole deck and claimed his victory like that.

Desmond then placed his deck and his deck was far better than Larry's. The only reason he was defeated is that he didn't take the initiative first.

"Wow, your deck looks like crap. If you didn't think ahead and planned out, you would have lost for sure." Shirou comments on Larry's play.

"That's what my entire life is, I am a remarkable military man but fate always dealt me with the bad hands. I have to make do with what I have or I won't be able to get anywhere in life.". Larry said as he picks up all of the cards and shuffles them up.

"Damn... I know that my life is full of adversaries and stuff but not the level of yours. At least my fate doesn't keep going against me all the time." Shirou commented.

"You would be glad that it didn't.". Larry said as he spreads the cards again.

"Shirou, I'm done with the coffee. You can continue your kitchen duty now," Kiritsugu said as he steps out of the kitchen with two cups of hot coffee.

Shirou just nodded as he watches his father moving along the hallway. He glad that he didn't burn the oven thanks to his mother's supervision but he wonders one thing though, just why does he need two cups of coffee anyway?

Kiritsugu walked across the hallway in this half-ruined apartment as he came for the room that his Master is residing in. He entered the place as he can feel the chilling winds soar across through the opened window where his Master is sitting right by its side. He looked at his Master as he can feel that he is deep in thought as the eyes are gazing at the nothingness outside.

"Master... Want some coffee? They would get chilled really fast if you not drinking them right now." Kiritsugu said to Gudao.

"Huh..." Gudao shudders as he didn't expect to have a guest right here.

Kiritsugu keeps holding up the cup of coffee as he gives it to Gudao. The Chaldean Master decided to accept his Servant's gratitude and decided to savor a hot cup of coffee in this chilling rain itself.

"Master, are you trying to carry the burden alone again?" Kiritsugu said it straight to Gudao as he is as sharp and straight as an arrow.

"No, I mean... It is my duty to save the world, right? If I am not doing it then no one else would." Gudao said as he sips on the coffee that is slowly turning cold.

"Master... Are you thinking that the world deserved to be saved?" Kiritsugu asked, knowing that he will enter the gray area of morality.

"What? I mean where else would I live?!" Gudao said as he finds what Kiritsugu said completely baffling at a time like this.

"Okay then. What if there is a Beast who is causing destruction in another reality and its activity managed to ripple itself towards our world and crushes it. Do you think that you can just jump towards it and resolved whatever is there? Can you somehow managed to be everywhere and every moment just to ward off all the possible catastrophe? You have far more intimate relationships with _actual_ _gods _with less power than that!." Kiritsugu said with more certainty.

"I... I... just want to... But... that's not even remotely fair..." Gudao said as he felt being cheaped upon.

"Look... life isn't fair even in the beginning. You can't save everyone that you saw and this includes the world itself too. The best you can do is to save those who are close to you. Just remember though, to carry your burden alone is to ask for a death wish. There is nothing to gain by saving the world by its entirety down to a single person." Kiritsugu said.

"But... how can you be so sure about that?" Gudao said.

"My first-hand experience in the futile attempt to save everyone is a hard lesson that I was forced to taste first hand. Such regret and pain still haunt me even as a Heroic Spirit. Let me tell you as a person who went through what you did without anyone to tell you what is wrong with my ideal. Don't try to carry the weight of the world by yourself!" Kiritsugu said this as if he is relieving through the haunting memory of the past.

Gudao became silent at what Kiritsugu told. He can't save the world? But that's the very reason why he fights to begin with.

"Look... I tried to do so and became a Counter Guardian just to do just that. I did become something extra-spatiotemporal in the end but doing so is to inflict an incalculable cost on yourself. Just don't try to follow my footsteps, okay?" Kiritsugu said as he tried to convince his Master from relieving the burden.

He doesn't know if he has gone too far or not with what he said but Kiritsugu has pretty much leave Gudao speechless.

The coffee in his hand turned cold from the shivering wind that blows during their epiphany of silence.

Meanwhile in the kitchen. Shirou is taking out the pot of stew that he made by himself as the steam went up as soon as he opened the lid.

"Thank god, actual lunch... Or dinner... I don't even know what time is it anymore." Kuro said as she tried to inhale as much of those saliva-drolling smells.

"Too bad that we have to eat them fast or we will going to have stew-flavored ice cream which is definitely not gonna be nice.". Illya said as she quickly takes a bowl for herself.

"Well, why don't all of you chow it all down then. If we could save up our strength for the final destination, it would help us tremendously" Shirou said as he whips a bowl for himself too.

"What about Arnold and Alfin? Should we wake them up?" Desmond asked as he gazes on the couple who are sleeping.

"I don't know what to do about them at all. It is probably more beneficial for them to sleep their way through to revitalize their strength.". Shirou said as he gives his guess about their situation.

"Wait, what about our Master, shouldn't he get some rest too?" Irisviel asked her son.

"I would have liked him to but considering the situation regarding his mental health. I decided that it would probably best to leave him alone for now. I didn't see Jii-san for a while too so I probably guess that he is having a personal talk with our Master." Shirou said.

And so they together enjoy the meal that they have but Shirou noticed that Larry is gazing towards something in a distance to the point that it caught more of his attention than anyone here. Shirou felt it is strange for Larry to act like that and thus he decided to take the initiative and asked the man himself.

"Larry... I don't know if I am intruding on something here or not. But you have been staring at that direction for like what? Two hours? I think that you should tell us about what you are sensing so that we could prepare ourselves for whatever we may come across." Shirou asked.

Larry sits there in silence for a while before continue. He decided to explain these swelling feelings inside that kept distracting him from what he supposed to do.

"Call it a hunch but there is something isn't right at all. The rain itself is already cold but the shivering wind and fogs that it keeps bringing in are what I found to be strange. Like something that isn't supposed to be there as if it was a premonition of something bad to come.". Larry said as the winds are howling from behind.

Everyone there is looking at him intensely, considering their streaks of bad luck. To face another Servant would be a fact that they wouldn't put it past them but if that is the case, it would be really bad. They barely made through the last fight, having another one consecutively will be a complete wipeout.

"Are you sure that what you said is true?" Shirou asked as if he doesn't want to accept the fact that there is another foe on their way.

"Look, I fight more wars than many of you here. If you can doubt me now at a time like this, don't ask me why you died after wasting all of these efforts to reach this far." Larry said it straight.

The winds howl once more as everyone could feel the chill across their spines while Larry is unfazed by the cold wind itself. They knew that Larry is telling the truth but that is the worst-case scenario that they wanted to avoid. But it just seems that they aren't that lucky anymore.

Back to Gudao and Kiritsugu, when Kiri decided that the silence is sickening to him. He decided that he will have to alter his message by a bit.

"Master, excuse me for my cynical and jaded outlooks. But what I meant here isn't that you shouldn't try to save the world but rather to keep fighting for it, just don't expect world peace. We have everyone here who is willing to support you, don't try to do it alone and that you shouldn't be yourself up for what you have virtually no control in." Kiritsugu said as he clarifies what meant.

Gudao became a little more attentive at the conversation between him. Kiritsugu sighed knowing that he is on the right path and he needs to convince his Master to share the burden to his Servants and not keeping it all for himself.

"The point here isn't 'save the world', it's 'stop trying to think of it as a byproduct of protecting the people you care about'. Biologically, you can't give a shit about all of the people on this planet and even if you did, it will only rack you up with so much contradictions to the point that it would drove you to suicide. It's like trying to save those millions who live on the exploitation of the billions below them just to support their lifestyle. You can't expect to save the lives of those below yet still trying to support that parasitic lifestyle of the upper. Saving the world means shouldering the problems of every possible failure and that is plain impossible for a normal human being," Kiritsugu said.

Gudao then understood what Kiritsugu meant, the sad look on his face turned into the one of determination. He knew that it is plain impossible to do so in the beginning but the guilt of committing the purge on other Lostbelts still lingers. But he knew that to do so right now is to spit it on the rest of the Servants who make it possible.

"You might not be able to save the world and making peace between everyone. Sometimes you gotta know how to hold 'em and fold 'em but you can always fight to protect those you loved when the chips are down and the dealing is done. Eventually, you will make hard choices and accepts the fact that such a thing requires sacrifice. But in the end, it all works out for you if you chose to stand up against the tide of fate instead of being life's doormat." Kiritsugu said.

Gudao understood what he meant and so he nodded.

A chilling gust suddenly blows through the place with such intensity that he felt he could get blown away by it. Kiritsugu stood his ground as the chilling gale pierced through his flesh and froze him to the bone.

"Is this what you meant by the tide of fate?" Gudao said.

"Didn't mean it literally but something isn't right about this storm. There was never such a strong gale like this even when we get nearer to the eye of the storm!" Kiritsugu said as he stood his ground against the freezing wind.

The building is slowly being torn apart as the gale became even stronger. They knew what this can only mean, they are about to fight another Servant.

The storm is coming...

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."  
A Glimpse of One's Past  
**__**A Messenger's Demise  
**__**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**__**  
**_

* * *

**_Words of God: _****_ For this part, play Rose at Nightfall - Raze 2_**

In the last line of defense, the rainfall is ceaseless and unforgiving. The enemy has breached to this far and the Stormtroopers overplayed their cards and paid the price for it. And now... defeat is imminent as the remains of the defending army are barely holding on in this endless onslaught that would threaten to eat them whole.

This is the final battle... The boundary of life and death is too thin and blurred to the point of nonexistence. Arnold doesn't even need to use his motorcycle to reach the frontline anymore. They are already this close and at this point, the army needs any man who can still have the strength to even stand.

Dead bodies littered everywhere. Blood overflowed the whole front, hell isn't fire and burning. They are just mud, mud everywhere.

Arnold runs toward the no man's land where ballistics are unleashed like rain. At this point, he is basically ordered to stay and fight, not for any delivery nor intelligence, he is basically sent to his death much like any soul here.

A ragtag group of soldiers running up from behind him and being led by an officer, Arnold decided to tag along since he has nowhere else to run or go to. It is just him and this bloody battlefield.

They run into a dug-in tunnel that is used to cover the infantry personnel from artillery strike but considering how late they got into the war, its quality is dubious at best.

Arnold sees the exit and he is tempted to go through it. However, before he could get outside, a hail of bullets flew across the exit and laying lead on those unfortunate souls who were at the receiving end. He heard quite a few death throes that he could make out from the rain which sickens him even more.

When the hail of bullets ceased to be, the team quickly rushes for their life through the dead zone and soon reached the next dug-in and Arnold avoided dead once more although way too close.

Arnold breathed tiredly, never once did he felt so exhausted at just the first few minutes like this. Seeing the injured soldiers who are waiting for their slow death and the ones who were still in one piece are shaken in paranoia and fear as their life could be taken at any moment notice. Suddenly, he found a few familiar faces among this place and...

"Hans! Fritz!" Arnold signaled as he realized that his previous allies are still there even at this far in the end.

"Dear thank God! You are still alive, guess that you are still fortunate enough to make it even till the end, huh?" Fritz said to Arnold as he is still shaken in fear.

"Not giving up till now huh? Guess that is one redeemable quality that you have" Hans said.

Still remembering that they are still at the deepest depth of hell. They together swear that they will make it through the place alive. How? They don't know! They just swear like that so that they won't be collapse from moral bankruptcy.

"Push the ordnance crate out of the way, we have to move forward!" The officer tried to rouse the spirit of everyone here but they all know that they will be running to their death.

A few soldiers only followed out of the obligation of duty when they would in fact rather stay here and just wait for their death. The moment the crate is out of the way, they were greeted with a bunch of barbed wire barricades that fell into this place here.

"Let me handle this!" Hans said as he took out a barb wire cutter and begins to cut them so that they can move forward.

He cut out the first one in their way and then he took his steps toward the one in the middle of the exposed area. Arnold looked in anticipation as he could felt that things will go wrong now.

He was right about things would go wrong as he detected the silhouette of a machine gunner appeared in the left flank as it aims its gun towards Hans who is in the process of cutting it.

"Shit! Hans!" Arnold yelled to warn the guy from the danger but it is too late.

The machine gunner begins to fire the gun relentlessly at Hans and when he realized it, he dropped the cutter as he makes a run for it. But it is too late as a bullet round struck into the guy's hip as he fell to the muddy ground from the shock of pain.

"Damn it!" Arnold yelled in the middle of frustration and rage as he quickly takes a rifle out of a recently deceased soldier in the dug-in tunnel and fired the shot right dead in the head of the machine gunner.

Arnold didn't realize what he just did but he paid no heed about it as he quickly reaching for Hans. Thank Heaven that he wasn't hurt too badly and can still be saved. Arnold then pulled the man into the dug-in tunnel and told if anyone here has the medical knowledge to treat for the guy immediately.

Arnold knew that even if a person is removed, there is always somebody else to replace them. This isn't the same for his side as manpower dwindled to the point of unsalvagable. Arnold quickly rushes toward the exposed area and grabbed the cutter and quickly tried to cut the barbed wire as soon as he can. He also looked towards where the machine gunner was and then saw another silhouette reaching for it. Realizing time is running short, he tried to cut the wire faster in panic and the moment the barbed wire was severed, the cutter also snapped in half.

With his feet ahead of anything else, he jumped towards the dug-in tunnel and once again escaped death at hairbreadth once more. When the machine gunner is reloading, he used the magnum he has in his side holster and decisively takes down the new machine gunner once more. Seeing their new threat got taken down, everyone in the dug-in tunnel quickly rushing through as their chance is running shorter with each second idling.

"Hans! Are you alright?" Arnold quickly reaching out for Hans as the guy is leaning on the wall while holding onto the makeshift bandage work.

"Tsk... I'm fine, lend me a hand, won't you?" Hans asked as he gives his hand forward.

Arnold also reaches out for Hans as he pulled him up. They then quickly rushing through the danger zone and once again reaching another dug-in tunnel. Upon entering it, he decided to peek out to see if the exit is secure or not only to see a line of machine gunners preparing to open fire for the slaughtering of their enemies.

"F-" Arnold quickly pulled back in before even uttering anything.

The hail of bullets was let loose as Arnold avoided getting hit by them but those soldiers who run ahead without looking died as they got quickly shot down with those bullets. He can still hear those screams echo through the atmosphere that not even the rain could drown them out.

"Damn it, how come nobody is doing something about those machine gunners!? Why do they just charging in mindlessly like this!?" Arnold swore as he sees just how irrational those soldiers could act.

There are a few factors played in here. First... they have drafted everyone who can still fight and they have crossed the line of no return too long ago when they applied for the Stormtrooper training program. Now, all they have are the new recruits who are essentially just meat shields and firing targets for the enemy's veterans. Secondly, the artillery crews are dead, the fact that the heavy ordnance got wiped out during the earlier mission before this one makes this whole fight completely one-sided. This is no battle... just pure one-sided slaughter and butchery.

There are too many of them to shot down before he would get turned to swiss cheese by them and thus the only sensible option for this is... just run for it.

The moment they quickly take their time to reload, that's when all of them rushing through the no man's land. The wooden barricades can only give a temporary shielding of not even less than a few moments before collapsing from the power of those .303 rounds. Hans and Fritz tried to rush through the barricades that are collapsing like domino while Arnold is a bit behind but he could feel the bullets almost grazing him. Soon, they managed to reach another dug-in tunnel but only a fraction from before managed to make it here.

Seeing more injured soldiers and the ones who are curling up on the ground from the constant fear only to bolster how futile this fight really is. A slaughter of not only but on a grand scale but also in the futility itself. Even if they would make it out of here, they would die from the constant trauma that would drove them to suicide.

Arnold sighed, he wished he could do something but really, there is nothing left but to go forward.

He reached the exit of the tunnel and sees a broken trench wall blocking his way, knowing the situation, he got no choice but just to break it through brute force alone. Knowing that his time frame to do so is limited to the amount of time the enemy required to reload, he will have to be faster than them at all cost.

The hail of bullets stopped, Arnold and his allies quickly rushing towards it and gathers up all of their possible strength to break the wall down while the enemy gunners are still reloading. The wall gives away as it collapsed into the ground and they quickly gather up to the closest cover they have. A broken part of the trench where sandbags are still installed and placed on top managed to cover them from the hail of bullets that came to decimate everyone in its path.

As if that isn't bad enough, artillery shells started to rain down and mutilate the already ruined terrain. He became worried that how on earth would they get through this wringer of hell. Seeing the soldiers running up to the hill and then screams in pain when they got shot only to be filled by the silence later, he just have no words left for this sight.

A soldier falls back from behind and lay on the ground as his chest is full of bullet wounds, in his last dying words he said

_...Don't... run... up...hill..._

The moment the words came out of the guy's mouth, his eyes became empty and life also leaves the dying soldier.

"Damn it... How else do we go past them now!?" Fritz asked.

Arnold looked around the place and saw a rusty shovel and pickaxe that is leaning on the broken trench wall. He quickly grabbed the pickaxe and then said.

"We dig a fucking path through even if it is the last thing we can do!" Arnold tried to rouse his friends' spirit as he charges ahead and tried to dig a path deep enough to cover their heads from the machine guns' fire.

His friends heed his words and grabbed the tool to assist him in this ridiculous solution of his. But surprisingly enough, it did work well enough until Arnold sensed something isn't right, he told everyone to halt as he slowly pries something out of the muddy ground. Turns out, if he made any more step, he would have struck into this undetonated mortar shell that would have killed everyone in a mere instant.

"Thank the god that we managed to save ourselves from dying from this hidden piece of shit right here..." Hans said as he tossed the mortal shell away into the ground and suddenly the thing detonated upon impact.

"Let just not handle those things carelessly," Arnold said as he continues to dig the path ahead of him while bullets fly above their heads.

Soon, they reached another dug-in tunnel but just how much can they expect to be protected in this hastily made trench? The whole place could fall apart in any second right now and-

"Enemy soldiers approaching!" A soldier inside tried to warn everyone else before he got shot repeatedly in the back.

Arnold who just entered the place realized what is going on, quickly draw out his weapon for the imminent firefight. He takes his stance and then jumped into action. With his Artillery Luger in hand, his CQC capability is far greater than anyone else here, especially in such a tight space like this. But then he realized what those opposing soldiers are using.

A loud blast rang across the hallway as he realized that the enemy has their own ace under their sleeves. They are using shotguns in order to sweep this whole place clear. Getting shot by those things at point-blank is guaranteed death, there is just no way that a pistol can measure up against a shotgun.

Another shot was heard and he just witnessed one of his guys got gutted with a shotgun shell at point-blank as his own intestines dropped into the ground. Such a sickening sight like that can't be erased from his mind no matter how hard he tried. Knowing that he had no choice left but to fight for himself, he quickly drew out a sawn-off that he carried along and fired it at them one-handed while taking cover should he need to reload.

The assault team noticed him and quickly tried to approach his position. Arnold prepared his stance so that he could take appropriate action at the right moment. However, another soldier appeared and wearing much more stuff and armed more than how he could ever get. With a gun that Arnold doesn't know what it is and the only thing he could discern is the drum mag that is also used for Artillery Luger.

The gun fired repeatedly over quite a distance compare to the shotgun whose effectiveness is limited to short range. The bullets laying fire upon the enemy soldiers as they quickly became fallen from it. Soon, the conflict was resolved although the victims died a gruesome death, there is nothing that he could do about it at all.

"Hey! Can I ask for-" Arnold tried to strike a conversation with the Stormtrooper but the guy just swat him off and paid no attention as the guy moves through the tunnel.

Arnold felt a bit irritated when he got ignored like that but considering everyone else is giving him the cold shoulder except for his friends, he really shouldn't bet on the fact that anyone would be friendly towards a stranger. He then quickly tried to rush through the place until he heard the sound of artillery shells impacting on this tunnel.

The place shook violently as if the earth is being torn apart, everyone then quickly gotten into a state of panic as Arnold tried to get out of the place as fast as he could while his friends are meanwhile still ahead of him. Soon, the tunnel collapsed and buried those misfortunate souls who were beneath the cave-in at the time. Darkness soon engulfed him and he doesn't know what happened afterward.

Arnold opened his eyes once more and feeling the rain splatters on top of him. The artillery shells must have caved the whole place in and he looked around to see the Artillery Luger of his being buried beneath the rubbles. He quickly tried to take the thing out only to see that it got the receiver got crushed and the only thing that he could salvage is the drum mag that is being used.

"Damn it..." Arnold cursed as his prized gun has turned into a hunk of junk.

And he looked next to him and saw the same Stormtrooper from before and saw that the guy's head got crushed by a falling boulder which splattered the guy's head into a bloody pulp. In his hand is the gun that he doesn't know of.

Arnold tried to inspect the thing and reads the carved out words on it. "MP18", it said. He tried to pull the trigger and got surprised by its automatic firing. Realizing what he just got, he tried to scavenge the dead Stormtrooper's body for more drum mags since the dead can't use anything in the first place.

With a new weapon in his hand, he quickly rushing through the destroyed tunnel for the hope of finding anyone who is still alive after this catastrophic cave-in. The sounds of screaming and gunfire only intensify the further he moved in this place, he then came across a firefight between a few of his allied soldiers and the enemy raiders. Utilizing the weapon's range, he fired the thing with good accuracy as he tried to take down the opposing fighters.

The sidearm bullets are still decent enough against human targets but anything more and it would just render useless. The bullets burst through the enemy fighter as they didn't expect such a weapon like that to be used against them as they helplessly retreat.

"Is any of you alright!?" Arnold said as he tried to check up on the situation.

"We got surrounded by the incoming infantry units, we need to get out of here, now!" One of the soldiers said.

Arnold suddenly got assigned the leader duty as he tried to find any way for the ragtag team of soldiers to fight through the group of enemy onslaught. Running through the tunnel, the roof was suddenly blown apart as artillery shells threaten to turn any misfortunate souls into a splattered mess. The tunnel keeps being torn with each second passed and now they were suddenly meet a dead end when the path ahead of them got caved-in completely.

"Don't worry, I'll open a path for all of you!" One of the soldiers in the team said.

The man has a bundle of TNT with him and seems to be trained as an engineer. He placed those explosives charges on the caved-in as he signaled everyone to fall back immediately. Heeding his words, the team stepped back so that they won't get caught in the blast. The engineer then runs back as he is holding in his hand the detonator of those TNTs.

Another artillery shell ruptured the place apart as the engineer got caught in the blast and falls because of it. And when that is not enough, a hail of relentless bullets flew through the gaping hole in the tunnel and shredded the engineer apart. Arnold got caught off guard by the turn of the event as he can't believe what just happened.

And when that is not enough, enemy infantry quickly entered the place through the gaping hole itself and started to open fire on Arnold's team. Arnold quickly responds to the situation by firing his MP18 back at the enemy. The soldiers along with him also fired their weapons in order to repel the breaching team. Those enemy soldiers quickly opened fire with an intensity no less than before as Arnold desperately keeping the situation under control and avoid the climbing casualty.

"We have to do something!" Arnold yelled as he tries to fight back.

A fellow soldier pulled something out of the side pouch and then threw it towards the oncoming soldiers. It was a grenade and when Arnold noticed it, he jumped away and soon the thing detonated. The result was not pretty to describe but it got him to proceed with the next step.

Reaching towards the detonator, he quickly pressed the lever down and the TNT blew the cave-in away in the instant and opened the path ahead for everyone else. The allied soldiers in his team quickly rushing ahead and soon they found the exit to this place. Arnold has also noticed the two friends of his at the exit but there was something wrong.

When Arnold reached the exit, he became silent at the sight in front of him. A sickening portrait painted in blood and corpses in front of him. It makes him remembers back to that mountain of corpses from back then and this one is just like it but far larger than how he is willing to admit. Blood dripping from all of those corpses and the ceaseless rain turned the place into a spring of tainted blood.

"They turned the exit of this tunnel into a killing ground... Dear Lord... How many got caught into this trap?" Arnold mumbled to himself.

His mind then shifted to the image of his friends. What if they got caught into this trap and-

Arnold shut his mind from ever trying to divulge that thought. Anything to keep his sanity in checks, he will do so just to save himself from shooting his own weapon into his own head.

He then heard something. A weak cry for help but that is enough to spark another flash of hope in his eyes. He tried to check the base once more and saw the familiar sight playing out in front of him. Hans is stuck at the bottom of this mountain of corpses once more and Arnold then tried to pull the guy into safety. However, he also felt something is breathing right into his ankle and he looked down and sees Fritz lying face flat into the pond of blood. The guy must have faked his own death and managed to be fortunate enough to avoid getting shot in this killing ground.

Arnold then used his other hand to pull Fritz into safety. But while he is doing so, he noticed to the flank of this place that there are machine gunners preparing their armaments to continue this killing ground. Arnold then quickly tried to gather all of his strength and pulled his friend back to safety. Feeling the sense of dread encroaching nearer, he lets out a cry to rouse his strength and make his final stretch for the tunnel.

Just right in the nick of time, the machine gunners let loose their weapons as they open fire on those who were in their line of sights. Arnold managed to drag both of his friends out of danger and narrowly avoided their end right there.

"Thanks... You saved me once again.", Hans said tiredly as he felt like he went through the worst moment ever.

Arnold can only stare towards the mountain of corpses. Is this what all of those lives ultimately culminate to? Just senseless deaths and slaughtering? Arnold doesn't care anymore, he just wanted to shut his mind off so that he won't have to go through this living hell.

And when he thought it couldn't get worse, he is about to see the reenactment of the most haunting memory he has in this war. An artillery shell flew towards the mountain of corpses as the next moment was too horrific to even describe in any sense without causing one to grimace from the sheer mentioning of it. Arnold tried to shield his eyes from witnessing such a horrible moment again but even when he shielded his eyes before the impact, that scene from back then still playing out in his mind. Gores and blood flew everywhere into a rain of crimson and the body was dismembered into tattering pieces as they landed around the place after the blast.

Arnold slowly looked towards the mountain of corpses again as he tried to brave against that horrific sight of the aftermath but he was proven wrong in a mere instant. What happened in the last memory is just looks like a sweet dream compared to this atrociously nightmarish sight. It was as if he is stepping in grounded meat of his fallen brethren.

The pile of corpses created a cover for his soldiers to make through the killing ground but if he is not careful, he will be going to join this place.

Timing his moment correctly, he and his friends rush for the cover as the hail of machine guns' bullets decimates the surrounding area. The pile of corpses was big enough to block even those bullets and giving them a safe place to move forward.

The hail of bullets stopped coming and the trio once more climbing up through the mountain of blood and gores. To trample upon the deceased like this just makes him feel sickened although he is not the one to talk when he looted a dead Stormtrooper.

"Gah!" Fritz said as he slipped on a spilled intestines and fall face flat into the pile of gore.

Both of them felt disgusted when they see such a sight like this and just wanted to distance away from this thing as fast as they could. They together pulled Fritz up as his face is tainted with an unholy mixture of blood and mud. Fritz felt so sick that he wanted to vomit all of the nonexistent food in his stomach.

"The British is about to fire! Quick!" Hans said as both of them tried to pick up their pace.

In a matter of seconds, they managed to narrowly avoid being slaughtered and entered another dug-in tunnel on top of this mountain of gore. The fellow soldiers of his tried to climb this place but seem to have a hard time to grasp for anything without being slipped upon in this mountain of overflowing blood. Not that he has any time left to stay here, all he can do is moving forward.

The trio then moving through the tunnel as artilleries still raging on from the distance. Sensing the ground sunder and shaken violently like this makes him feel uneasy about what might going to happen. And just as simple as thinking about it, the ceiling of the tunnel blew apart and revealed them open to artillery fires.

"Quick! Moving now!" Arnold said as all of them quickly tried to run away from the rain of explosive shells although the situation is looking far grimmer with each second passed.

They tried to run through the tunnel as the place is getting torn apart more and more as they advance through the tunnel. And as if that is not enough, there are enemy infantries coming through the place en masse.

"Damn it! Does anyone have any explosives!?" Arnold said as he frantically searching around since an SMG won't stand up against a battalion.

Everyone knew what is going to happen if they do not act now and thus tried to find a solution to this predicament. They can't go back since the path behinds them is filled with rains of explosives. Charging forward is asking for death considering they will be pitted against a much larger enemy unit while being horribly outnumbered.

And within that moment panic, Fritz decided to look through Arnold's backpack and find a single stick of dynamite within it. Arnold realized it and took it for himself as Hans tossed him over a lighter.

The enemy assault team noticed them and begins to open fire at them unhesitantly. Arnold ignited the dynamite and rolled it on the ground for a short distance and then quickly told his friends to fall back immediately. The enemy presumes that they are running away as they didn't even notice the stick of ignited dynamite on the ground.

When they finally got close to it, it was too late for them to run away. The next moment, an explosion occurred and shook the cave apart. Arnold and his friends looked in disbelief at what just happened and they decided to check if there is anyone alive. When they got close, they realized that they underestimated the power of even a single stick of dynamite alone. It caved their only path and now they are basically stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"Damn it, although we cleared off the soldiers, we sealed our only path..." Hans said frustratedly.

The ground trembled. They knew that if they don't do something now, they will become a bloody splat on the ground. Within this dilemma, Arnold decided to rouse everybody's spirit once more.

"We fucking dig through this place again! We did this once already, you guys already know the drill, right?" Arnold said as he takes out the pickaxe and tried to dig his path through the rubbles.

The other two see him doing it and decided to pitch in with their help. Doing nothing will get them nowhere and they knew damn well what to do. With their collective efforts, they dug through the cave-in just in time as they made their final rush towards the exit. They run as fast as their legs could take them while leaving the rain of artillery shells from behind.

With only the rain and the muddy path that they run, they looked at their surroundings and saw how much dead bodies littered everywhere. The decayed smells emanated the air, the burning wafts of gunpowder, the echoing sounds of endless rain that splatters. All of these were familiar sights to them but what truly unnerves them is that they find all of these 'familiar'. When did they get so used to the idea of industrialized manslaughter like this?!

"Why were we so blind to all of these?" Hans said as he felt completely in disbelief as he finally sees a bigger picture after being forced to look in one general direction in front of him.

War... Out of all things they shouldn't find normalcy in, they chose to find normalcy in this. They looked down towards their memory lanes and remember nothing but bloodshed and death, pain, and suffering. Only when things truly about to come to an end would they looked back and realized just how things have turned up to. And suddenly, they witnessed another killing ground unfold right in front of them.

"Damn it, we have to stop them now!" Arnold said as he takes out his MP18.

He quickly approaches silently towards a machine gun nest and then opened fire and takes out the machine gunner for himself. Hans and Fritz assisted by wiping out the escorts of the machine gun team. They then together rinse and repeat this process to save as many lives who were stuck in this place. But they shouldn't expect to keep a perfect streak like this to go on without anyone to detect what is wrong.

"Sounds the alarm-" The enemy soldier tried to signal before Arnold finished him off with the SMG in his hand.

"Damn them all... Just damn them for killing so easily without batting an eye." Arnold said while grunting.

They took out a few machine gun nests along the way as they tried to dismantle the killing ground as fast as they could to save as many lives as possible from falling prey to this jaw of death. Soon, a few soldiers who escape the killing ground joined up along with him and worked together to take down the killing ground as fast as they could.

The number rising a bit by bit but Arnold spent no hesitation to rouse everybody's spirit up to take down the machine gunner. They might not be able to do anything about the artilleries but if clearing all of the machine gun nests away would save these many lives then he will not hesitate to keep this up.

"Clear them out! Don't give them any ground to fight back!" Arnold commanded the ragtag group of soldiers that he made from those who are still alive beneath this cesspool of slaughter.

The soldiers let out their cry as they fight even fiercer than before, not letting their enemy to counterattack back. With each step of them, they managed to push the enemy back one by one. Things seem to go well enough until...

Arnold heard the sounds of roaring steel, he knew this is a really bad thing for nobody here has the weapon to fight back against tanks. Taking considerable measure, Arnold commanded everyone to mobilize quickly and move away from anywhere they heard the sounds of roaring. They together heeded his words and then moved separately.

Well... if he said it a bit sooner, it would have made a real difference. A tank suddenly burst through the trench wall and quickly tried to crush Arnold into the ground. Being quick on his feet, Arnold jumped out of its way before it could turn him into pastes. But what makes him worry that he is going to fight against a tank without any anti-tank weapon.

The built-in machine gun within the tank started to fire at anyone in its line of sight. Arnold being completely powerless against it as the tank keeps killing more of his allies who were also powerless against it.

"Everyone! Move out of its sight!" Arnold tried to yell through the intensifying chaos but only for it to fall to deaf ears.

More of those tanks approach his location and they opened fire all of their armaments no matter what their targets are. Despite the clear fact that there is only infantry in his squad, they are willing to use cannons against human targets themselves. The situation went off the handle and Arnold soon finds himself unable to control the situation any longer. His men are dying as they were helplessly killed by those metal behemoths.

"Arnold! Over here!" Hans yelled to Arnold as he is running for a dug-in tunnel.

Arnold heard his friend and quickly ran towards it. A tank noticed him and quickly aimed its cannon right at the tunnel itself, attempting to collapse the place away. Arnold pushed all of his strength into his feet and run like hell for his only chance of safety. And when the chance came, Arnold grasped it at the last moment and escaped death as the tank shell struck the top of the entrance and collapsed it and thus buried the entrance away.

Those who aren't fortunate enough to get there can only meet certain death as their only fate.

Arnold felt completely dazed and realized that the entrance got caved-in. And then he noticed that the place is completely pitch black except for a light that came from an oil lamp.

"Why is everything so dark here? Did both the exit and entrance collapsed?" Arnold asked.

Hans nodded and sighed. The tunnel does go deep into the ground so that it is safe from artillery but with both sides blocked, the air here will run out soon and they will die from suffocation.

Arnold looked around and sees that there are only 15 soldiers left other than him and his friends. They have been pushed down into such a bad position that there is no saving anymore. Everyone is dead. Defeat is everything but assured. And now... all they can do is waiting for their death.

Arnold wandered around the place as the dim-lit light of the oil lamp shows the surrounding. The people are silent and motionless as if they lost all hope of ever seeing the next day. The atmosphere is so tense that his weave of a finger could cut the air.

He noticed a table with a dossier file on top of it. He opened it and reads the content inside. Not like it is matter anymore since the chain of command has collapsed by now.

_**Words of God: **__** For this part, play Messenger - Steins;Gate 0**_

_In response to the increased armor unit that the British are sending over the frontline, we have created our own armored vehicle that can be used against the British Mk IV. The A7V Sturmpanzerwagen._

_This is a last-minute attempt to revert the situation when our belief of infantry over everything else shattered when the enemy's armor tactic proven to be successful. Due to the shortage of materials and the enemy's supremacy over manpower, we have only one tank left. And they will be assigned to this final line of defense._

_Armed with a rapid-fire gun and multiple Maxim MGs._ _Around 50-60 cartridge belts, each with 250 bullets, plus 180 rounds for the main gun, split between special HE explosive rounds, canisters, and regular rounds._

_Even if it can't be used for direct combat, this vehicle is still capable of traversing through muddy and deteriorated terrain. Maximum crew sizes of 17. The current storing location is at the furthest east in this current battle-_

The rest is ripped away from the original document and can't be found anywhere. He also found a map with its location marked on it and the basic control of the tank itself. Arnold realized that this might be their only chance of making through this hell and escape alive. Nobody care if they are running away if the enemy will steamroll into the high command and kill everyone anyways.

He looked around the place for anything, especially anti-tank gears like explosives or even the T-Gewehr. Soon he received his answer as he found a crate with the T-Gewehr with its bullets inside. Placed next to it is also a crate of dynamites and a detonator. Arnold thinks for a while before making smirk on his face.

"There's a way after all.". Arnold said as he devised a path towards it.

He then moves toward the center of this place where he will catch everyone's attention. He breathes in as much as he could to pacify the stress that is building up in his heart before delivering a speech to bring everyone from morale collapse into the zenith.

"Everyone! Listen to me!" Arnold said as loud as he could while the sounds echo across the cave.

They wanted to ignore what Arnold wanted to say and be left alone in this darkness. But the resolute spirit inside Arnold delivered the speech with such force that they couldn't help but to have their attention caught by it.

"Do all of you accept your death this easily?! All of you make it through this hell this far and yet accepting defeat right now?!" Arnold said as he tried to rouse everyone up from the depth of despair.

"I understand all of you went through the worst nightmare called this bloody war. WE all understand that suffering and bloodshed that we were forced to endure. BUT this is the final stretch to reach for the final escape from this hell on earth. The last stretch for salvation..." Arnold tried to convince his allies as some of them started to listen to what Arnold has to say.

"This! This is our last hope of escape marked on this map. We can make it there but only if all of us cooperate and fight for each other!" Arnold said as proudly as he could muster although such facade could be easily broken by a professional.

More soldiers started to listen to what he has to say as they started to gather around him. They seem to be interested in what this escape vehicle is.

"If we chose to stay here, death is the only thing awaits us. So then, if we are going to die anyway, why don't we fight for our way for our own survival!?" Arnold said as rousingly as he could to bring the despaired hearts of the soldiers back to life.

"And most importantly, the greatest dream of a soldier is to see the next day without worrying that it would be their last. Do you wanted to see 'the tomorrow' for yourselves!?" Arnold said as more men started to gather around him.

"So then, will all of you please lend me your strength so that we can make it to the next day!?" Arnold said his final part of the speech.

Soon they raised a commotion after listening to Arnold's speech. They seem to be in much of a greater spirit than before as they are far more willing to fight back against their tides of fate.

"Good job, bud. But how do we get out of here now?" Fritz asked.

"I have an idea. And I need all of you to get into positions so that I can initiate this plan." Arnold said.

Arnold then grabbed the T-Gewehr and the bullets along with it and used the carrying belt to bring it along without the thing get in too much in the way. Armed like a walking armory, he will be the one to carry the rest of the surviving team to their escape. The responsibility ultimately falls on him.

After a little while, all 15 soldiers and his friends stand into their positions while Arnold is standing at where he believed is the exit that got caved-in. Placing a few bundles of dynamites carefully and wired all of them into the detonator. Arnold took his steps back and when he believed that this is the safe distance, he pushed the detonator, and soon the explosion occurred.

_**Words of God: **__** For this part, you can now continue with Rose at Nightfall**_

After the dust died down, Arnold rushed forward to the light that shines from the exit and quickly sprung into action. Seeing that there are British soldiers around here and they seem to be disoriented from the explosion's blast. Arnold took advantage of the situation and used his SMG to take down the British surrounding him. The fellow allies of his also exit the tunnel and quickly assisting him in taking down as many of those enemy soldiers as they could.

"Follow me! I'll lead the way for all of you!" Arnold said as he moves ahead despite carrying a lot more than how many other soldiers could.

Through the deteriorated trench, they met with no less amount of resistance on their way. Through their fierce fighting and their will to see the light of the next day, they tried to pull through the most hardened and most veteran soldiers they could be facing and managed to do so thanks to Arnold's guidance. Through the treacherous path they went, they used everything that is at their disposal. Enemy's weaponry, the muddy terrain, and this atrocious rain that turned everyone's vision into crap at best. They used every ounce of unfair advantages they have just to survive this deepest circle of hell.

No longer bound by honor, pride, or the binding of the upper. All they have left are their brothers in arms, no bonds are stronger than those you can rely on upon without any doubt or hesitation. Perhaps that is what makes them so effective in the first place, they followed what their hearts called out, not the words that dictate them what is right or what.

"Stop! Don't move!" Arnold told everyone to hold their horses.

In front of them is a huge sinkhole filled with mud. He could tell that there are people fallen into this place as some of their hands protruding through it around the edge of this sinkhole as if they desperately tried to escape but it was only futile in the end. There also tanks that were fallen into this sinkhole and the mud goes deep enough to almost engulf it. Even the height between the mud surface and the edge of this sinkhole is at least 4 meters high.

Arnold noticed that the tanks seem to line up in a path towards the other side of the sinkhole and it makes him have a glaring suspicion that the sinkhole was most likely created due to how constantly artilleries were used.

"Dear Lord! Where do we go now!?" Fritz said in a panic as he fending off the pursuing assault team.

Running above the trench will only draw all of the attention towards them and will get them shot in a mere instant

Arnold looked around and saw a derelict tank that was abandoned and tethering against the edge of the sinkhole. Guess the British abandoned it when they realized they can't turn around and thus just moves on foot when being stopped by this sinkhole. He then grabbed a stick of dynamite and ignited it with short fuse time before throwing it at the ground below it.

The dynamite blew up and tore a chunk of the ground beneath the tank. The tank then proceeds to tilt into the sinkhole and then falls into it, bridging the gap between the fall tanks in it.

"Everyone! Jump!" Arnold said as he jumped first into the fallen tank below.

He landed on top of the tank as he looked around the muddy sinkhole of death from below. He gazed into it and saw his own silhouette's reflection but he can't help but feel that if he makes even the smallest misstep, he will be fallen into this one-way path to hell. Hans and Fritz followed him and landed on top of the tank that is fallen into this sinkhole here. They noticed that there is also enemy soldiers on the other side as they tried to fire at them. Arnold used his SMG and tried to fire them accurately but once again, he can't have much hope for a small-caliber arm to have that much effectiveness in longer-distance combat.

"Take this!" A soldier from above said to him as he tossed something to him.

Arnold grabbed the thing as it was flying in midair and he realized that it is a scoped rifle. He has no bullet that can fit in this thing but he will still use it nonetheless. Aiming down the sight with it, he shot down the soldiers who are trying to kill him in quick succession. One of them got shot right in the heart and then falls into the mud sinkhole and gone along with it.

When he can confirm that there are no more signs of opposition in his side, he quickly jumped from the first tank to the next one. He knew that he mustn't even mess up even a single jump or it will be his death. Hans followed him and successfully made it to the next tank. Fritz then followed but the guy made a misstep and unable to jump far enough, he thought his death is certain until...

"Fritz!" Arnold said as he reached out to him and Hans is doing the same.

Just in a nick of time, they managed to grab Fritz and used all their strength to pulled him up from the brink of death. Fritz breathed in heavily as he can't believe he just got so close to death.

"Leader! The tank is coming!" A soldier from above the ground said to Arnold.

"Just jump already!" Arnold yelled to them.

The soldiers one by one jumped down to the tank below, partially because they have no means to fight back at all against those metal behemoths. On the other hand, they just wanted to avoid getting killed needlessly. The tank then stopped at the edge when it realized that it has no more ground to move but all of its armament is still working and will shot down anything within its sight.

Arnold realized the state of emergence they are in and he quickly drew is T-Gewehr out and fired a shot right at the machine gun's emplacement if his memory hasn't failed him yet. He was right about where he shot though as he can hear the sound of something broke in the British tank. Although the same could be said to his shoulder. Arnold pulled the bolt back and loaded in another shot and this time he fired it at where he believed to be the tank commander's position.

Feeling his shoulder could fly off any second from improper positioning but does he even have the time to repositioning!? The survival of others has to come first. With the tank commander out of his way, he could tell that the rest of the crew might try to escape the tank but the moment one gets out, Hans finished them off with a bullet squarely on the head. With the tank completely abandoned, Arnold decided to leave it alone to hinder further reinforcement.

"Everyone! Over here!" Arnold tried to grab the attention of the soldiers standing on the first tank.

They noticed Arnold and they quickly tried to jump across the gap between, considering how many people here, Arnold decided to jump to the next tank to make space for the others. With his leap of faith, he managed to make it to the next one, while the ally soldiers from behind him tried to jump to the next one with him.

Although the distance isn't too great, what truly occupying their minds is the dreading thought of falling into this mud sinkhole. To suffocate the whole way as they fall to the depth of hell is no great way to die at all. Especially when there are those who desperately trying to escape from the jaw of death only to have their futility became the warning sign for others.

"Watch your step! Put all your strength into your feet and jumped as far as you can. You have only one chance!" Arnold warned his fellow soldiers.

Arnold jumped to another tank and he can feel that he is losing his concentration and focus due to fear. There is no possible way to swat off or even ignoring fear because that is something instilled into pretty much everyone's psyche. But ignoring fear isn't courage, overcoming is.

The team managed to get closer to the other side as they slowly but surely getting to it by jumping from each tank. But nonetheless, they have to overcome this final hurdle to make it to the other side.

Another squad of enemy soldiers approaching from the other side, they proceed to jump down to the tank from below and begin to fire at Arnold. Arnold noticed their actions and quickly lift up the hatch of the tank and used it as a temporary shield. There's no way for him to jump inside since the place is also flooded with mud. Considering the path of remaining action, he decided to use the T-Gewehr against human targets. He has no choice left or they will decide to target his fellow soldiers.

Pulling out his T-Gewehr and pulled the bolt back, he reloaded the gun and then aims it at where the enemy soldiers are. He doesn't want to pull the trigger but he knew he has no other choice and he will accept whatever is the consequence of his action.

He pulled the trigger and he can hear the sound of the gun tore apart the hatch plating and through the massive hole in it, he took them all down with one single shot. The chunks of gore torn from their body are no lying.

"Hey! Are you alright?" Hans asked his friend.

"Yeah..." Arnold said tiredly.

He then packed the T-Gewehr away and quickly jumped towards the last tank on the way. Seeing the steep cliff on his way with virtually no way to climb up. He decided to grab the dynamite and plunged into the muddy ground in front of him. He attached the detonating wire into it and then quickly move away as far as he could before detonating them.

With the push of the detonator, he blew apart the cliffside and created a path for everyone else to climb up. Arnold then jumped to the ground and used his hand to climb up against the slope. Everyone else has also reached the other side and does the same as the ground quickly becomes muddier with each second passed. Fortunate enough that they all managed to climb up to the top before reinforcement comes.

"Everyone! This way! Quick!" Arnold said as he tells everyone to follow where he has to go.

They looked back and saw a group of soldiers climbing up the abandoned tank on the other side and they tried to fire back at them but Arnold's team has gone out of their sight and there is no way to go over this sinkhole anymore as the other side was completely muddy and any attempt to climb will land them into the mud sinkhole.

However, just because no one can get over the sinkhole doesn't mean their weapons are out of the range. They still have something within their sleeves and they are willing to use it.

A little while later through the muddy and treacherous path. They finally found it, the A7V. It sits right there in the rain and seems to be unscathed so far. Everyone quickly gathers around it as they find the very thing completely spectacular.

"Find the way in of this thing. We don't have much time left. They could probably find a different way to get here now." Arnold said as he tried to find the entrance of this tank.

After struggling for about a few minutes. They finally managed to find a way to get into this thing. Each soldier of his entered the tank one by one. Things seem to go smoothly until...

Something exploded nearby him, Arnold knew that the enemy is trying to taking them out with the artillery team. The enemies don't know where they are exactly so they still having some time left before they pinpoint where they are.

"Quick, get in!" Arnold said to the soldiers as they quickly tried to get into the tank.

Arnold threw in the basic control dossier and the map so that they knew what to do best. Although they may require training to use the tank properly, there is no other choice left for them but to use the tank if they want to get out of here.

Arnold then gets into the tank while Fritz is still staying outside. Arnold looked into the inside of the tank and saw how crammed the place is. One more person and it will be too cramped and nobody will be able to control the tank properly. And that's when he realized one critical detail he forgot to take account to.

_Maximum crew size of 17..._

Those words echo through his mind as it suddenly dawns on him. He doesn't have enough space anymore, and now he stood with one dilemma blocking him from his hope of escape. Will he abandon his friend and ditches him away in this godforsaken battlefield or will he stay and most likely die in this place along with many other poor souls.

His mind stuck between two decisions and he doesn't want to choose any at all. Nobody here wants to die nor betrayed by those whom they trust for so long. Time is running short as artillery firing intensity started to rise tremendously. Seeing the dilemma in front of him, he decided to choose one final decision that he must take.

"Fritz?" Arnold asked.

"Yes?" Fritz asked nervously

"Get in..." Arnold said it straight to his friend whom he will see for the last time.

"Huh?" Fritz asked in confusion despite the world is collapsing nearby him.

"I said get in!" Arnold yelled at his friend to make him do what he said.

Fritz then nervously enters the tank while looking back at Arnold who is staring at him sternly as if he doesn't want to regret saving his life instead of himself.

"Sir?" Fritz asked nervously for the last time.

"Just get in already!" Arnold yelled as he then grabbed the door and then slam it shut.

The tank then moves away as fast as it could while the fog started to settle in. Soon, it disappeared into the fog itself.

Arnold stood there, trying to hold back his own tears. The surroundings are exploding deafeningly with the artillery shells while the rain is raging on endlessly. And yet... his sadness is more profound than all of these combined. He cried not because of regret but rather how this is most likely how his whole life is going to end.

And then something exploded nearby him but he can tell immediately that it isn't any artillery shell at all. He looked to his side and saw a yellowish smoke appearing and quickly spreading. He then quickly runs away from it partially in panic and also in fear of what it might do to him if he came into contact with it. As if that isn't enough, more of those canisters suddenly landed nearby and emitting this yellowish fog around it. Arnold keeps running away as fast as his feet could carry.

He doesn't know where he is going anymore. He just runs wherever his leg could carry without a destination in mind. He just runs for the sake of running. Whether running for escape or running to reach for the tank that his friends rode on. He doesn't even know why he is still trying anymore.

A mustard gas canister exploded right in front of him and Arnold was unable to cover his eyes at that moment. The mustard gas caught into his eyes and inhaled some of it into his lung. He felt the world around him is burning apart as the mustard gas tearing his vision apart and his lung melting into a bloody mixture. He wanted to just roll on the ground and writhing in pain. But he still running despite being completely blind as a bat and each breath felt like immolating himself.

_**Words of God: **__** For this part, play E.S Posthumous - Ebla. The first choir.**_

A soldier, with his clothes bleached to gray by time, trekking through the land of the dead. He keeps wandering, with no destination in mind. Forever stuck in this perpetual cycle of torment, all for the single hope of getting out of this eternal punishment.

A face rugged by fate, jaded by the passage of time. He managed to open his eyes but his vision might as well be considered ruined.

He keeps walking, abandoning everything that he kept with him, just so he could delay the inevitable. He keeps walking as he sacrifices his mentality restrain, which prevents him from doing anything that could kill him, just so he could keep moving on.

He keeps walking and soon, he sacrificed the very madness that kept him for so long. He soon came into a stop and stood up straight, he looked up into the sky as the raindrops fell on his face. A face that was rugged by torment, suffering.

Devoid of any hope that could free him from this suffering. He fell into his back with an eye as empty like the void, looking up the sky and he let out his last breath. He joined the rank of those who have fallen in this place, without ever having the chance to ask God why this has to happen to him and everyone else.

He looked up into the sky as he makes out the hazy image of it while the rain still landing down on him. With his life coming closer to its end, his memory flashes in front of him as everything playing out in his vision despite how barely can't see anything yet those image are still so vivid that is unreal. At that moment, he decided that if his life is going to reach its end soon, he will end it with a silent requiem. A requiem only for himself to hear and to remember.

_In a forgotten land I lay  
__A lonely soldier with unknown fate  
__Upon my dying words as I pray  
__Tell the words of passing hell  
_

_Relieving all I have been through  
__With the last communion of my soul  
__Rusting bullets with my own tears  
__Relieving all of the sorrows of my own years_

_Laying low in a blood-filled trench  
__Killing time until my own death  
__On my face I can feel the falling rain  
__Never seeing my friends again  
_

_Within the smoke of mud and lead  
__Smell the fear and the feeling of dread  
__Soon the time the walls fall over  
__Rapid fire and end of us all  
_

_Whistles and sounds of gunfires  
__Lifeless bodies hang on barbed wires  
__A battlefield nothing but a bloody grave  
__Be reuniting with the other side soon_

_Many lives of eighteen years  
__Drown in the mud with no more tears  
__A war that nobody wins  
__Killing time is about to begin_

_Crucified as if on a cross  
__Lives that never be able to mourn their loss  
__The gears of war forever turning  
__A cycle that can't ever be ceased_

_Swore my vow that I heard the angels cry  
__So this senseless madness can finally end  
__Pray to God that no more will die  
__So they can finally see the truth for themselves_

_As the rain of blood unveil its crimson cloak  
__The sounds of guns can't hide their shame  
__And so I meet my end here  
__On the land of passing hell_

_Dodging shrapnel and barbed wire  
__Running straight into enemy's fire  
__Running blindly as I hold my breath  
__Let out a prayer within a symphony of death_

_Seeing my spirit soars across the wind  
__Across the horizon and beyond the hills  
__Friends that I never will be able to meet again  
__May I finally see you... on the other side..._

His vision became dimmer as his consciousness started to fade away. Breathing started to become a chore. He felt his grasp on his life can't be held onto any longer but he finds it okay. Soon... he joined the rank of the dead, became one of those who died here.

And soon everything falls into silence...

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**A Bitter Reunion**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

"Ugh... What happened?" Arnold said as he wakes up from his slumber while the landscape completely turned white from the snow.

He felt something is weighing down on his chest and when he finally focused, he saw Alfin who is sitting right on his chest while looking straight into his face. On her face is an expression that he is hardly able to put into words. If he attempted to, he would say that it is an expression of someone finally able to reach the other after such a long time of being absent away.

Before he even processes anything, Alfin kissed him on the lips. And hold it tight like that before she let go of him.

"Arnold... I... I thought that I lost you..." Alfin said as she tried to hold back her tears.

"What is going on?" Arnold asked.

He then realized he is lying on the snow while everything completely turned white from the blizzard, he can hear the winds howling into his ears and the chill it carries piercing through his flesh and bone.

"Did something happened?" Arnold tried to ask Alfin but she seems to care more about holding his embrace as closely as possible.

But he received an answer nonetheless as a person from behind answering his question.

"A blizzard came crash over this place. We have no shelter left, it is time to go now.". Larry said as he lends his hand so that Arnold can pull himself up.

Arnold accepted his help and pulled himself up. Alfin also let go of him when he stood up and seems to get herself back together just as quickly. Arnold also saw the rest of his allies approaching him and seems to sigh that he is fine. Did he got blown to here or something?

"It is strange though... We have seen rain for most of the time but a blizzard right now out of nowhere? This is can only go so well..." Arnold said.

Larry just nodded, the cause of this blizzard is unnatural and there is most likely a mastermind behind this.

"We have to go now or this blizzard will kill all of us before then.". Gudao said as he leads the team forward.

_**Words of God: **__**For this part, play Frostpunk - The City Must Survive**_

They then together trek through this blizzard as the surrounding is completely turned white. They can't really discern anything within this blizzard at all. Is that thing over there a building or it is just the terrain? They don't even know anymore.

"Damn it, I thought there just no possible way for the weather to be this cold.". Arnold said as he shivers with each gale that passes through him.

If a Servant complains that they are feeling freezing, you know that hell has just completely frozen. Feeling that something just not right to him. Gudao then used the communicator that Illya has given back to him when she had the chance. Just like always, Da Vinci is the person who picked up his call.

"Master? Are you alright? The temperature that we recorded in the area your in is so low that not even the first Lostbelt is this brutal." Da Vinci said to her Master.

"Wait... What is the temperature?" Gudao asked in confusion because he can't really tell much due to the Mystic Code he has on him right now. He does feel frisky but other than that, he just has no idea.

"Master... It's -220 degrees Celcius... The 'snow' around you isn't 'snow'... They are solid air..." Da Vinci said with an expression that said "I can't believe I am saying this".

"What?" Gudao asked as if his whole perspective on things just turned upside down.

"Dear Lord! Now that you are saying it... I just feel ungodly cold." Desmond said as he felt he could fall ill in this cold.

"You just have to say it, don't you?" Richard said as he felt completely unbelievable.

Maybe it was better for them to not know the actual temperature since they felt discouraged at the fact that the possibility of them dying here just raised exponentially upon knowing it.

Arnold meanwhile is still trying to strife through the cold wind that is trying to push him back. Just even moving a step forward just difficult for him in this unforgiving weather although everyone else isn't faring any better than him, maybe except for Larry who still looks fine enough even in this air-freezing cold.

Alfin seems to be most affected this blizzard as her walking speed just getting slower with each second spent within here. Arnold kinda realized that her defeat came from not acting fast enough and ended up defeated due to winter freezing pretty much every military asset of her during Eastern Front and Stalingrad. That failure ended up becoming her conceptual weakness or pretty much every military really. It just that she got affected the most out of it.

"Alfin. Let me lend you a hand." Arnold said as he turned around to her.

Alfin nodded and she decided to jump to Arnold's back so that he could carry her. Arnold shivered when Alfin's chill quickly spread to him but he managed it properly enough so that he won't collapse like her.

"Larry, you seem awfully calm even in this weather. While I kinda could guess that you have some experience with it but this level of level-headedness of yours just unnerving to me." Pierce said as he walks through the blizzard with the armor. Thanks for the Crisis Core that he didn't get frozen to death in it.

Larry doesn't say anything, not even the cold of Finland is this atrociously cruel. It is like two winters combined into one then just boosted its potency with something. Not even a wind could tear a building apart like that and thus he just knew that something is wrong about this winter.

Many possibilities ran through his mind as he tried to narrow down the list of them to the bare minimum. Just who is capable of creating such a blizzard that can be simultaneously reminiscent to him but so frighteningly nightmarish like this?

"What if there are two Servants who are capable of the same ability?" Larry thought about that possibility but yet at the same time not wanting to explore more of it. Not because he got stumped there but rather, he already has two candidates in mind.

They keep walking in that blizzard as it hails down the pure white of nothingness on them. They then suddenly realized that surrounding them are just... nothingness. No building... No terrain... Just a pure flat land of that white nothingness shrouded by the diamond dust and the howling of the wind.

"Something isn't right... I sense something really wrong here..." Shirou thought as he tried to discern anything in this pure white landscape.

His mind suddenly flashed as he instinctively drew his Kanshou and Bakuya out and used the pair of swords to deflect an incoming bullet that is aimed into his Master's head. He successfully knocked the bullet away but his blades shattered upon impact and created a deafening sound upon collision along with a gust created from the vacuum left behind from its trail.

Tension suddenly rose as everyone quickly getting on their guard. Shirou tried to discern where the bullet came from and aimed his bow right in that direction, thinking that his enemy is right there. However, he got proven wrong when-

"Watch out!" Kuro yelled as she deflected another bullet came from the opposite direction than the one from before.

Her pair of twin swords broke as the deflected projectile plow through the ground and created a huge wave of snow in its path.

"Did it just-" Shirou said as he realized what just happened behind him and then suddenly-

Pierce quickly get in front of Gudao as a bullet came straight into his head and knocked both of them into the ground as they glided a long distance into the snow.

"Thank god for this armor..." Pierce said as he finds himself completely fine but not very much for Gudao for he is completely in a daze.

"Master!" Kiritsugu said as he grabbed his Master by the collar and pulled him up from the ground before the bullet would burst through his temple or just blown his head apart entirely.

"Damn it! How did this guy get around us this fast!?" Shirou said as he tried to detect where the hell this assailant is.

Whoever this enemy Servant is, they can't even tell wherever this person at all. Being attacked from all possible directions while having no way to even tell, they were truly at a disadvantage in a situation like this.

"Damn it, I know where you are, you just won't show up even if I am gonna make it so." Larry said as he begins to take something out of his coat.

It was the Muramasa from before and any Servant would obviously know what to do when facing that thing. Everyone then quickly ducks to the ground as Larry then makes a whirling slash with it as the shockwave ignited into a crimson heatwave that quickly soars across the atmosphere and sweeps away the diamond dust.

Soon the foggy vision cleared up and revealed two figures standing in a distance away. This basically confirmed Larry's suspicion as he gazed into them intently as if trying to find the reason why they are targeting everyone here in the first place. He could understand why him but an unrelated person who he accompanied with? That's why he couldn't pass this off mere coincidence at all.

The two figures approach them and their figure became much clearer. They are a man and a woman, however, when Gudao sees them for who they are, he gasped as if he witnessed something that is falling on the spectrum of unbelievable.

The woman next to the white-coated soldier is wearing a dress that seems to belong to the high-society class. But Gudao can instantly tell who she was, she is...

_Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova_

The Tsar of the First Lostblet and the one that he has killed to stop the Lostbelt itself. He could tell that she remembers none of those things that transpired there but what makes him gasping in horror isn't her but the white-coated soldier carrying a side bag of same color next to her.

Hair as white like silver, those baggy eyes as if he never has any rest in his life. The lower of half of his face is covered with a scarf but it was such a familiar face that he couldn't forget and it doesn't make the gaze that he placed on Gudao any less threatening. Gudao swallowed his breath as a single name flew out from the furthest depth of his mind to tell him who is that person in front of him.

_Kadoc..._

The first Crypter that he faced during the first Lostbelt, he never remembered his fate or whatever transpired to him at all but to see him now is such a dreading feeling that he couldn't get it out of him. Those empty eyes that gaze on him feeling as if it could pierce him just by simply looking.

Larry gets in front of Gudao as he approaches forward to the duo in front of him. He could tell that Larry has something personal with them.

"So we meet again... my old friend... _**Simo Hayha**_..." Larry said it straightforwardly.

That alone makes him gasp even greater. Simo Hayha, the greatest sniper of WW2 with over 700 confirmed kill over the course of one month. Cheated death despite getting shot with an explosive bullet. The man was like a phantom... a ghost... or more exactly... a reaper of the pure white hellscape.

And Kadoc is the vessel for this man's Spirit Origin, and then he remembers that the vessel has to be suitable for the Heroic Spirit. Considering that both of them have a ridiculously low ego and they might not controlling each other at all.

However, that doesn't make the man any less dangerous. He could have blown his head off before Gudao could do anything if Larry didn't intervene in time.

"Answer me! Why did you targeting them!?" Larry said furiously.

Simo doesn't answer and he still keeping that stone-cold face of his. The winds are returning and the diamond dust is filling the atmosphere quickly. The guy is dead serious about killing them.

"You bastard!" Larry yelled before rushing towards Simo with the intention of giving him a beat down. However, he is stopped immediately by Anastasia as he felt completely frozen on his track.

"Damn you..." Larry muttered as he gazed towards her and saw something appearing behind her back. It was Viy, the mythical monster that is said to haunt those who brought her unjust death.

Realizing the emergence of the situation, Desmond joined the fray only to... shot down immediately.

"Desmond!" Larry tried to yell but Viy basically froze him shut to the point he could barely say it.

Desmond held onto the wound of his left arm as he wanted to scream in pain but can't afford to do so in front of his friend.

Shirou and Kuro looked intently into the duo in front of them as if they are devising their own plans. But with Simo's gaze on them, they can't afford to do anything rashly at all, at least not in front of that man deliberately.

Simo heard something flying at him from behind but he didn't even bother to turn around for Anastasia dealt with them immediately with two icicles that burst through the ground and deflected a pair of twin blades that is aiming to decapitate him. The blade soon landed on the snow and they were Kanshou and Bakuya.

"Damn it..." Shirou muttered beneath his breath as his plan didn't work out as planned.

The basic here is that Desmond would get the attention of the two in front of him as Shirou would throw a pair of his twin swords in secrecy and hope that Simo won't notice them. However, he really shouldn't have underestimated him that much or the fact that Anastasia could notice them.

Time is running down for the Chaldean, the longer they stay here, the colder the atmosphere will be. Soon, they will be cracking up like ice and shattered into fragments from the sheer cold that would break physics.

Larry standing there in front of them, feeling the flame of hatred in his heart burning greater. To see an old friend as an enemy like this just pissed him off to no end. Seeing his friend getting stuck here with no hope of escape, it makes him remember that unpleasant memory of his. He has a solution but doing so is just as much as self-sacrificing. But seeing that if everyone is going to die if he just stands still and does nothing... he decided that one death is far more preferable than complete wipe-out.

Channeling the flame of his rage to his body, the spell that Viy put on him is slowly but surely cracking as an aura of flame started to swirl around him to the point it defrosted the frozen air that he stood on.

Simo noticed something is amiss as he turned his gaze to Larry only to realized that it is too late to hold him back. The binding spell that Viy put on Larry shattered like glasses as the burning rage of his created entirely on sheer will and conviction alone. This time, Larry decided that he is not holding back anymore.

He unbuttoned his white coat to reveal the inside of it is... military attire of the 1960s US? And on his wrist revealed to be an armband of German's Iron Cross. Turns out... Illya's bluffing about the guy fought in three wars turned out to be true as his military service went on for a long time. All for one singular target on his mind... to destroy communism.

The flame in his eyes burns brightly as he wanted his justice fulfilled. Especially after Simo hurt Desmond as if it wasn't his business at all. Anastasia quickly commanded Viy to bind Larry back into his position but as if he could tell the gaze that is about to land on him, Larry pressed the trigger of the Black Barrel Sheath as it pushes the blade out with lightning speed. With his hand gripping the Muramasa tightly, he cleaved Viy's gaze with such speed that the aftershock it created shattered the binding lock apart.

The power to severe karma of the Muramasa quickly caused the feedback to Viy with a massive shock of pain that it also inflicted upon Anastasia which incapacitated her immediately, creating a small gap of escape for everyone else. Simo also seems to care more about Anastasia rather than the fact that everyone is quickly trying to move away from them. Larry then raised his left arm to the sky and pointed towards it, soon something started to flew down through the dense cloud.

Massive explosions occurred as it created two blazing lines of inferno stretching to who knows how long. It was as if they were fires of heaven, raining down upon this frozen and forsaken land.

"Everyone! Go this way! They will take you out of this frozen hell!" Larry said as loud as he could to guide his fellow teammates to escape this place.

Desmond by this point collapsed into the ground already and Shirou quickly grabbed him by his arm only to realize how cold his body has become. The medic himself is dying of hypothermia due to the exposed wound and if not treated quickly, the guy might going to die for real from being frozen inside out. Knowing that he got no option left here, Shirou quickly threw him over to his back and rush forward to the blazing line.

However, the smell of gasoline quickly approached his nose and he realized just what this flame actually is. Information started to piece themselves together and Larry's revelation started to make the picture clearer. Shirou signaled his Master to call the Shadow Border to confirm the identity of one of the friends who hid their identity for so long.

Gudao flipped the communicator on and Da Vinci said first before he could.

"Dear Lord... Just dear Lord... Can't believe how bad I actually screwed this one up." Da Vinci said as her expression shows how bad she screwed something up.

"Da Vinci!? What's the meaning of all of these?!" Gudao said as the smells of gasoline fill through his nostril.

"It's about Larry, we realized the massive mistake we made when looking through his identity. We considered any information irrelevant to WW2 to be swept aside and which including the man himself there." Da Vinci said.

"What do you mean?!" Gudao asked.

"Larry is indeed his name but that's the identity he assumed in the Vietnam War. His True Name is Lauri Thorne or Larry Thorn if you wanted to decide so. His military service stretched back to WW2 in the Winter War, the same one that Simo participated in. He led many battles and fight through those same amounts and he even has a battalion dedicated to himself to break through the enemy's lines. However, he never received the happy ending he deserved after all of everything he did as Finnland signed a treaty with the USSR that part of their lands will be transferred to the USSR so that the war can be stopped. This also included Larry's hometown!" Da Vinci said.

"So that's why..." Gudao said as he ran through the corridor of burning flame and the path of frozen air.

"This pretty much breaks the guy as he lost the very thing he fought so hard to protect and thus he decided to continue his conquest against communism by joining the SS Waffen so that he can fight against the USSR himself. However, he has no part in the politics of SS Waffen, and thus when he learned what is happening behind the scene, he ditched the Waffen immediately and escapes to his homeland only to be tried for treason after the USSR once again got their hands on Finnland's government. You know how much they hate Larry for the damage they caused to the USSR and the extent of what they tried to do just to kill him is just pathetic." Da Vinci said.

"Decided that he will not go to put himself to rot in jail, he flees to the USA and became one of the earliest Green Beret. He still only has one task in his mind, to bring down the USSR. He got sent over to the Vietnam War and became one of the advisor and overseer of the operations there. However, he meets his end when his transport was too faulty for mission requirements and ended up crashing when they met with horrible weather. No survivor was found and his remain was sent back to Arlington for burial. In the end, no enemy managed to kill him but the betrayal and incompetence of the higher-up are what killed him. A remarkable military man but dealt by fate with all of the bad hands." Da Vinci said.

Gudao gritted his teeth as he looked into the sky above him with the blizzard just keeps going worse. Da Vinci felt something is peculiar in her Master's action and wanted to ask. However, Gudao shut the communicator off and then keeps rushing forward. Arnold looked into the situation that transpired in front of him. He felt something but he can't even quite put it into words. Seeing the emergence of the situation has spiraled out of control too long ago, Arnold decided to keep silent about it as he keeps running through the blizzard.

Soon... heaven and earth will shatter from the retribution that was unpaid.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Painful Retribution**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

Both of them are staring into each other while the blizzard keeps intensifying, nobody raised a single voice as the tension started to rise. Larry stood there steadfast even if faced with the prospect of dying, it was as if he knew what would happen if he stayed but he still decided to go with this plan even if it is going to cost him his life.

"You know... I am supposed to be happy right now that I have found you... Since the Winter War..." Larry said first to break the impasse between them.

"However... that woman behind you is telling me a different story. White Death... No... Simo Hayha. I can see why you would choose to cooperate with her but why do you have to choose me and my friend to be under your judgment?" Larry asked as he wanted an answer to this madness that is unfolding.

Only silence came from the opposing Servants. They don't seem to know how to make an excuse for what they just did.

"Silence, huh? I'm afraid you two only have two choices here. Tell me why you created this blizzard and your side of the story or I'll let my guns do the rest of the talking." Larry said as he is prepared for the worst-case scenario should Simo and Anastasia decided to fight.

Both of them stood there for a moment before Simo said his answer.

"You know... I am also glad that I met you too. Something just can't be said through words alone and we can only do so through actions." Simo said assertively.

"Guess that it was redundant to ask that from you in the first place. Fine, if you wanted to answer with the gun then you will have it!" Larry said as he charged forward towards Simo.

Simo also does the same as he charges headfirst towards each other. He blocked the Muramasa with the bayonet on his Mosin Nagant which has been tempered with near absolute zero ice by Anastasia. However, he knew that a bayonet alone won't stand up against a blade that was made to kill its opponent, and thus he has to be careful with all his moves.

They swung their blades against each other and when the chance comes, Simo suddenly disappeared right in front of Larry. Larry then pushes his sense to the highest possible height while his hand still placed on the Black Barrel Sheath. And just like that, he pressed the trigger and the blade quickly pushes itself and he quickly turned to the back while the blade is moving at an ungodly speed.

"Knew it..." Larry thought as he saw Simo right at his back, prepared to fire his Mosin right into the back of his head.

A pillar of ice burst through the ground and blocked Larry's Muramasa at the last moment. However, its power can still be felt without even having to taste it as the aftershock of the attack pushed Simo away into the air and rolled down the hill of snow. He quickly got back on his two feet and Larry just walks toward him menacingly like that while the Muramasa's aura is burning through the air-freezing temperature.

Anastasia approaches Simo from behind while blood is still dripping from her eyes like tears. It was the result of Muramasa's karma severing that did the damage to her eyes as bloodshot is spread around them. It doesn't take that much to realize that she isn't pleased with what Larry did to her.

"So you decided to side with the Russian. Very well... If that is what you wanted then I won't spare you from my blade!" Larry said as he dashes toward Simo.

Anastasia held onto Simo from his back as he quickly fazed away into the snow. Larry then gazed around his surrounding in an attempt to discern wherever they are in this frozen wasteland.

His instinct flared up as he evaded a large icicle that spiked up from his position. And then another one right at where he just jumped to evade. And then like a specter, those icicle spikes suddenly pursuing him as if he was haunted by them. Larry quickly moves away from them as they just keep homing on while still remaining there to block his way.

"Interesting, enough is enough..." Larry said as he quickly pulled a whirlwind slash around him as the shockwave cleared away all of those icicles in one fell swoop.

No more of those chasing icicles but he felt like something is still approaching him. Within a brief moment, he acrobatically evades those crystal edges that are rushing in like a bullet train at him as they plow across the azure field of frozen oxygen. Now that he realized it, the temperature has also dropped so low that it is just flat out snowing pure solid oxygen.

Vision is getting worse, the night is slowly approaching, with only the Muramasa as his only beacon in the slowly encroaching darkness. He knew that he can't let his guard down even in the slightest moment.

The wind currents are changing, he felt something unnerving as he tried to look around for anyone. And then his body acted first before he did as he jumped away from his position immediately. Right at his previous position, a massive spire of ice landed right at where he stood. Larry then looked up and sees another one that is about to land on him which he jumped away immediately from it. And before he realized it, it just a goddamn storm of them raining down upon him.

He swiftly evades them and moving his way through the storm of ice spires. He is doing well so far until-

"Huh?" Larry grunted when he realized something is clamping at his left foot before he falls face flat into the 'snow'.

He looked back at his left leg and saw a bear trap made entirely out of crystalline ice clamped his entire left foot with its jaw. He quickly tried to remove it while the icicle spire is still raining down on him. The moment he got out of its grip, he jumped away and an ice spire landed right at where he got trapped.

Letting out a breath of relief while getting back on his two feet as fast as he could. But then he realized that fell into something even worse. Those spires of ice... They didn't fall randomly... They were selectively placed so that it would corner him right into this encirclement filled with nothing but an icy wall.

Larry tried to put up his guard but he soon realized just how pointless that was when Simo appeared suddenly right at his back, holding above him a massive ice pillar created by Anastasia. He then swung the whole pillar down on him into a god-shattering blow.

With that sudden attack that Larry couldn't counter in time just from how Simo could appear out of nowhere and randomly like this. The guy felt as if the whole world just shattered entirely as he collapsed to the ground. His body is in great physical pain that he could faint at any moment. The ice spires that surrounded him shattered into fragments and flown away with the winds

Simo and Anastasia are standing behind him and looking down upon the man. Whether it was disdain or pity, it didn't matter to Larry any longer. Something started to fill inside him...

Larry stood up despite the fractured body of his. Simo and Ana noticed something isn't right and instinctively steps back in caution. He can feel the intense emotions that are starting to build up inside Larry with such speed that is unreal. He can sense them... rage, fury, despair, hatred, contempt, disgust, malice, hostility, loathing, resentment... All of them became more and more intense with each second passed as they started to swirl around his heart like a vortex that devours everything in its reach.

He turned his head around to Simo with his left eye dripping tears of blood with a bright red flash that can be seen within his eye.

_I thought you were far better than this..._

**_Words of God:_****_ For this part, play Painful Retribution - Undertale Disbelief_**

Feeling his body instinctively react just from Larry's gaze full of hatred on him alone. Simo knew something isn't right, feeling the mana spiking to an unbelievable degree as he tried to raise his guard to prevent whatever Larry may do to him. But nothing can ever prepare him for the prelude of hatred.

Anastasia raised a wall of crystalline ice just right before Larry's Muramasa would decapitate both of them in one fell swoop. But even then, the impact was so great that both of them were knocked away by a great distance from the aftershock. Simo held onto Anastasia tightly as he used his power to transport them right to somewhere else.

In the next moment, he is right somewhere a bit safer but not that much safe considering Larry has gone mad by now. He saw a massive cloud of snow right on the distance where he most likely 'teleported' away. Larry probably just unleashes his Muramasa right at that place when Simo teleported.

However, Simo's power isn't teleporting anywhere that is snowing, he just moves so ungodly fast in it that it appeared to be teleportation. Even if it is not snowing, he would still fare well enough no matter what with his speed alone. The only reason that both of them managed to survive this long against Larry's rage is because of their synergy with each other.

The ground trembles as he can see that flash rushing towards him like a bullet that is aiming directly into his head. If it weren't for his body reacting before his mind, both of them would have been bisected in the next moment. Anastasia completely froze Simo's Mosin and encased with ice that is so tough that no level of pure brute force could break it and right in the next instant, Simo is using the very same thing to block Larry's Muramasa from bisecting him into half.

He gazed directly into Larry's face and Larry does the same. But Simo felt unnerved just by looking at the sight of his old friend himself as the bloody aura emanating from his bleeding left eye and the bloody tears that drip on his face. But what truly nailed that fear factor is just how stone-cold and emotionless Larry is, even in great pain or filled completely with intense hatred and rages that could withstand against near absolute zero.

The clashes between Muramasa and Anastasia's Frozen Mosin ended up causing a huge amount of spark that pierces through the veil of winter darkness. They pushed back against each other and strike against each other. Again and again...

Larry's hatred started to affect his strength directly with each blow started to have more force behind it. Realizing that he can't keep fighting him head-on like this. Simo took his chance and rushed his way out of Larry's sight along with Anastasia taken with him.

Forced to escape away from Larry once more. Never had he felt this lethargic like this trying to fight one Servant alone. He looked back at where he was before and saw the light of Muramasa from the distance. It seems Larry is trying to find him again and seems to said all sorts of profanity that Simo couldn't hear clearly because of the storm. However, a light started to illuminate upon them and both Anastasia and Simo looked up to see... a giant fireball that is about to come crashing down on them.

Both of them quickly get away from their position as the fireball came crashing down and exploded and leaving an undying flame in its place. The smell of the flame came whipped into his nose and he muttered one word instinctively that he didn't even aware of knowing.

_Napalm..._

A bomb used extensively in the Vietnam War and used the burn vegetation to ashes. They don't stop burning no matter what, even if they landed on a water surface or extreme cold. These things, there just no limit to how these things will last. It could be an hour or a whole afternoon. It just lasts as long as it wanted to. And because of it, the ground that Simo and Anastasia can use to activate their abilities just got shrunk.

They knew what this means when the longer this fight drags out. Soon this place will be a burning hell paved with ice.

"So you think you can just coward your way out of this? If you have intended to freeze hell over then I shall burn the heaven with my retribution.". Larry said as he approaches Simo and Anastasia while the Muramasa still having that burning aura akin to the burning napalm beside them.

Two of them stared coldly towards Larry and Larry does the same towards the two in front of him. Soon... the boundary between heaven and hell will collapse.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Scorching Sky - Frozen Earth**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

"Huff... huff... Did we got away from them?" Illya asked as she tiredly tried to gather her breath after nonstop running from the jaw of death.

"Yeah?..." Shirou said as if he is baffled from what is unfolding from his back during the whole event when they tried to run away.

Flame scorching up to heaven. The gust of cold still soaring through the frozen wasteland. The whole sight that is unfolding in front of them is too unbelievable for words to ever describe. Flame raining down from heaven, Ice bursting through from the ground. To say that hell is frozen and heaven is burnt apart is perhaps apt enough to at least equivalize it to something.

"Larry..." Desmond said as he tried to open his dim eyes and looked towards the blazing horizons.

Gudao tried to stay calm but he can't help but gritting his own teeth out of frustration. He has done many sacrifices till this point but never ever compromise with any of them. This was just another one that just got added to his list.

Arnold looked into flame and felt something inside him just keeps beating constantly. Was it stress? Was it something out of fear and tension? Or something else? He looked towards Alfin who is holding tightly to him. She seems to be going through some memory that she didn't want to ever looking back on and those flames just reminded her of it.

"We have to go now... If we still stay here, that circle of flame will soon reach us." Pierce said as he reminded everyone of what they need to do.

They looked back at the blazing in hesitance of leaving Larry behind but there is nothing else they could do anymore at this point.

**Back at where Larry is**

He stood there, completely still with that stone-cold face of his while the surroundings are filled with burning napalm littered across the battlefields. His hand still held onto the Muramasa as he deflects the hail of bullets that Simo fired at him from all sorts of angles.

Simo appeared and disappeared repeatedly without stopping. The moment he is in front of you, the next instant you find him having his gun at the back of your head. That's just how frightening he is like to those Red Army soldiers who got fell by him without knowing how or why.

Simo started to pick up his speed as his figure started to turn blur like an afterimage. With such unreal speed, he then fired his Mosin as fast as he could that the sheer speed makes all of them appeared to be overlapping on each other. Seeing the bullets around him that are about to turn him into Swiss chess, Larry placed his hand on the Black Barrel Sheath's trigger and pressed it quickly as he could. The blade in his other hand quickly pushed out as he quickly performs a whirlwind slash and sweeps clear all of those bullets away in an instant.

The shockwave knocked Simo away as he landed on his two feet to halt him from skidding across the burning snowfield. Larry then raised his hand up to the sky as the fire of heaven started to rain down upon where Simo is. Simo then quickly moves away as fast as he could but having his own suitable combat area slowly being consumed away by the flame started to hurt his ability's performance by a lot.

Anastasia joined with him as she raised a large wall of ice to cover him from being doused with napalm, although it melts in an instant upon contact, to have any of it on your body and you pretty much as good as dead.

"Anastasia!" Simo said to her as he tried to pick himself up.

The duchess then quickly held onto him from the back as she tried to giving him any assistance that she could. The foe that she is fighting against now is a fearsome soldier who is willing to stain his hand with as much filth just to accomplish his mission. She can't expect Larry to not pulling something even worse than before and the napalm makes her just wanted to scream 'It's goddamn hot!'

She is not willing to use Viy on Larry because the last time she did so, Larry almost got her eyes burst apart and turn her blind. Because of that, she is a lot more willing to cooperate with someone allegedly one of the scourges that Russia was so feared so that she could just payback Larry for what he did to her.

Simo quickly moved away before another napalm bomb landed on him. Space that he can move and utilize his 'teleportation' skill is getting tighter with each second passes as the napalm slowly consuming everything here. The darkness of winter is now completely replaced with the flame of war as the burning light of it pierce through the dark veil of the night.

With each second she held onto him, she felt something familiar but how? Both of them are strangers of two different times, there is nothing in common between them. Yet this resonating feeling inside her keeps beating in a way that she can't tell at all. However, that train of thought got interrupted when Larry is about to land an overhead blow on them.

An icicle shot from the ground and forced Larry to change his targeting priority and Simo took advantage of that to 'blink' them away from Larry. And just like that, they managed to get away from Larry at a distance of... 50 meters. He now realized just how small the battlefield now is to him to the point that he literally can't get away that far from him.

"Simo! Lend me your strength!" Anastasia said to him from his back.

"Huh?" Simo said as he didn't understand what she is trying to get at. His Magic Parameters aren't anything spectacular, they are average and getting by at best. But why does she have to even ask him to pitch him in the first place?

But he still obliges anyway, the only way to defeat one in perfection is two in harmony. If he and Anastasia can work with each other flawlessly, not even Larry could stand up against them.

Feeling his mana started to channel from him to her, a flash appeared in Anastasia's eyes as she raised her right hand to the heaven above. Feeling the wind current shifted dramatically, he wondered what did she just do until he looked up into the air and saw a massive ice spire descending through the air with fast speed towards Larry.

Larry looks at it apathetically as he sheathed the Muramasa into the Black Barrel Sheath and placed his finger on the trigger. He controlled his breathing as he tried to pace it steadily before pressing the trigger. When the chance comes, he pressed it as he quickly directs the quick draw slash upward into the sky. Letting his body flows into momentum without any resistance, he soared up to the sky as he let out his words before truly going into action.

_Tidal Wave!_

Soaring up to the sky with a single upward slash, leaving behind a blazing red afterimage as he reaches towards the falling ice spire. The moment the blade made contact with it, Lary also placed his feet on the ice spire and dashing through it while the Muramasa still plunged into it. The blade searing through the ice pillar leaving behind a blazing trail. The moment he reached the other end of the ice spire, Larry jumped once more and smashed it with the Muramasa with all of his might which resulted in the whole ice spire to explode like a massive fragmentation bomb, scattering its fragment everywhere.

Watching chunks of the whole ice spire to raining down mercilessly, Anastasia realized her whole plan backfired as she tried her best to salvage any saving grace left. The force of the blast are pushing them back slowly as Simo's scarf soaring violently as it lashing out among the wind like a whip. Soon, a chunk of ice almost struck him as he evaded it the last second but his scarf wasn't spared as the sharp part of the chunk cut through his scarf and revealed the lower part of his face.

The left side of his lower face was completely made out of crystalline ice as one can see the jaw bone in it. It was the lingering scar of what ended his streak as the White Death, an explosive bullet made for anti-tank, he survived it but it forever lingered on even after death.

"Simo!" Anastasia said as she placed both of her hands on the ground and encased both of them in a dome of ice in an attempt to shield them from the hail of ice raining on them.

And that cataclysm that is unfolding... isn't just limited to them.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Engage Your Enemy**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

"Keep moving! We're almost gotten out of here now!" Gudao said as he finally sees a building although still covered in snow, it is still remaining. That' the proof they have gotten far away enough.

"Everyone? What's that flying towards us?" Richard asked as he felt something is flying towards them.

_Rho Aias!_

Before everyone could process just what is going on. Shirou has jumped into action as he traced the Rho Aias to protect everyone from what is about to rain on them.

Rains of ice fragments raining down upon the Chaldean as the Rho Aias holding up against it. Everyone quickly got behind it as they wonder what on earth is happening right now.

"Why is there suddenly a storm of ice right now?!" Pierce asked as he stood behind the shield while those ice fragments are moving at supersonic speed.

Just when they thought they could just hold out until the storm passed, a large chunk of ice collided with the shield resulting in one petal broken. Shirou winced as he felt the damage being transferred to him. The chunk of ice landed on the ground but Kuro seems to notice something as she noticed the burning trace of the ice itself. She analyzed it and realize that it is the burning left behind by the Muramasa and doused by napalm.

"Don't tell me that he overexerted it power and caused this blast?" Shirou said as he holds the shield up.

"Most likely, and considering the amount of ice being flung here, he must have slashed something unbelievably extraordinary.". Arnold said.

"But it is strange, the power of Muramasa in itself is already extraordinary, he could just cut it without exerting too much power like this but no, he just has to explode the thing and caused this whole thing to happen. It is like... he is acting entirely out of pure rage and feelings and not putting any restraint at all". Illya said.

Suddenly, Arnold felt something flashed in his mind. Acting entirely out of pure rage and feelings? Why does this remind him of someone he knows?

He then looked at Alfin who seems shuddered at what just going on right now. She has a terrifying capability if driven to rage and hatred but he felt that there is a missing link that connects both of them together. Not because of Hitler or anything but rather... something that is exaggerating their emotions to a borderline psychotic degree.

He looked into the blazing horizon once more, he is getting closer to the truth, he just knew it. But why does he feel that he won't like this truth one bit at all?

His gaze keeps locked on the burning image in front of him, wondering just what has unfolded in this forsaken battlefield.

Back at the battle is unfolding, the dome of ice that Anastasia summoned to protect them has shattered but other than that, they are still fine. But there is one thing though, Larry has landed on the ground while the Muramasa in his hand is still ablaze. Anastasia at this point wasted much of her power on a futile attempt to defeat Larry but it was to no avail.

Simo stood up as he faced directly towards Larry. With the Mosin Nagant in his hand, he-

Before he could realize it, the Mosin Nagant in his hand got bisect and he is now holing its stock. The moment he realized it, Larry is already in front of his face as the guy quickly kicked him into his gut as he flew and collided into Anastasia who is sitting tiredly on the ground. Soon both of them lying tiredly as they breathe heavily in both pain and tiredness.

Simo gazed towards Larry who is looking extremely ominous and threatening with the spires of napalm flame behind him creating the lighting that gives him such an image in the first place. With the Muramasa aimed directly towards Simo, Larry said:

_Tell me what you cherish most so that I will find the joy in taking it away from you._

**_Words of God:_****_ For this part, play Engage the Enemy - Xenoblade Chronicles_**

Simo stood up while still holding on to his bisected Mosin. He then looked directly into Larry's eye as he said the words inside the furthest depth of his feelings.

_That's what you don't understand. There's nothing I don't cherish._

Infuriated by Simo's answer. He quickly tried to slash Simo with the Muramasa only to realize that both he and the Russian tsar has disappeared from his sight. He turned around and see them behind him a bit distance away from him.

Simo is currently carrying Anastasia in bridal style while crouching. He tried to find any way of breaking through this situation. Larry just cut his Mosin like nothing, just what does he hope the Suomi would do anything? Anastasia is basically drained after using such an attack like that. He can't keep 'teleporting' like this forever, Larry would eventually cut the amount of non-napalmed ground to just him. It is either die by the Muramasa or burned to death in the napalm.

Anastasia opened her eyes and saw Simo's face up close for the first time. His face is reminding her of something, something like it belong to her past summon. She felt like she has seen that face from before, was it...

A flashback played within her mind, it wasn't a memory belong to this summoning but rather a different time. She saw his face but it was too hazy to make out but it is definitely him, it was the eyes of disbelief of him losing her at that very last moment, to have her dying in his own hand while being too powerless to do anything that completely turned upside down of what she knows. This wasn't the first time that they met and worked with each other.

Soon that flashback ended just as soon as it appeared. She then looked into his face and realized that she has to do something. That epiphany alone makes her forgot that she isn't even at her best shape anymore but she can't afford to make him go through it once more. She can't let him went through that pain of loss again.

She placed her hand on the Mosin stock that Simo is holding, the stock was touching the snow at that time but he didn't have any care about it since he is trying to formulate a plan to have two of them escape from this place. However, his train of thought stopped as he felt a chill in his hand coursing through his nerve.

He looked at it and saw the stock completely froze and when he tried to pull it, the thing is unusually heavy and when he tried to pull it all up, what he pulled isn't just a stock anymore. It was a greatsword made entirely out of crystalline ice with the Mosin stock as its hilt.

No... It was too crude to call it a sword. It is more like a massive icicle sharpened into an oversized knife. Suddenly, both of them looked into each other in the eyes as if they read over each other's thoughts perfectly. It was as if both of them are synchronized with each other at that moment as they quickly get into preparing stance with the crystal greatsword in such perfectly synchronized movements that not even Servants could find flaws in it.

"Let's dance... Moron..." Simo said as he and Anastasia flow their movement into 'hanging right' sword fighting stance.

Larry felt irritated when he saw that they think they still have a chance against him. He sheathed the Muramasa and pressed the trigger again to create a torrent of crimson slashes that fly towards the duo in front.

_Back right_

Their thoughts synchronized without delay as they quickly changing their stance. Their movements are unbelievably graceful to the point of unblemished. The moment their stance changed, they together use all of the remaining strength that they could pitch in and pulled an upward slash with it. The shockwave created from that slash moved with no less amount of power than crimson torrents that are charging toward them.

The two attacks collided resulted in a huge discharge of energy in the form of a massive shockwave that pushed all of them back. Larry didn't expect that there is something that is capable of fighting back against Muramasa's power but he won't let that fact dissuade him from taking them all down. Simo and Anastasia were dumbfounded that it actually worked and they quickly nodded toward each other in complete mutual understanding.

Larry then charges forward as he prepared to pull an overhead slash which both Simo and Anastasia quickly parried it almost instantaneously. Their spirits are resonating with each other greatly to the point that the two of them act with such synchronization that they are like one person. Each blow they managed to deflect with their own power combined, it is such a rare sight to see something like this in the first place.

Simo and Anastasia used their upward slash again and Larry dodged it by acrobatically backflips away from it. He then quickly makes a large jump into the air and swung his blade downward at Simo and Ana. They quickly raised their sword in time to parry the strike just in time but got pushed back because of it. Larry then took advantage of it and charges forward to keep the suppression on.

The duo quickly sharpens their focus so that they don't falter at the worst possible timing. Simo quickly read the pattern of Larry's attack and within that slimmer moment of truth, he managed to successfully counterattack through the smallest gap within Larry's attack and quickly tried to make use of it. However, Larry quickly disengages and falls back immediately to prevent him from getting chained with the duo's attack.

Larry when getting enough distance from the duo, he then quickly plunges the Muramasa into the ground and then rushes toward them while the blade plows through the snow. Both of them braced for whatever Larry might do to them as Larry pulls an upward arc slash that breaks their guard open and he quickly followed up with a roundhouse kick straight into their gut and knocked them into the ground.

Quickly getting back on their own feet before Larry would follow up on them. Larry then proceeds to sheath the Muramasa and pressed the trigger on the sheath to pull a quick-draw slash on Simo and Anastasia. Simo realized the emergence and quickly decided to apply one of his power in the hope that it might be able to do something about what Larry might do to them.

Simo flickered towards Larry right when he unsheathed the blade and the applied force of Simo's greatsword unbalanced him immediately. Anastasia followed up immediately with the momentum as she spins around and knocked the Muramasa out of Larry's hand as it flew a distance away from him. Right when that happened, they attempted to follow up on the defenseless stance Larry is in right now.

However, instead of just taking hits, Larry used both of his hand stopped the greatsword right in between his palms. He then grabbed the greatsword and spun around tossed both of them away. Looking at his palm and noticed the frostbitten part on it, he grunted and ignored the injury on his hand as he cracks his knuckles.

Both Simo and Anastasia gathered back at their feet as Larry approaches them. Larry then charges forward with a speed that breaks the sound barrier and caused the ground to shake upon his movement towards the duo. Both of them held their greatsword tightly so that they won't be disarmed from Larry's attack.

Larry then puts all of his strength into the punch that collided with their greatsword with such a force that cause the ground to tremble and shake from it. Both Simo and Anastasia got pushed away but still remained the guarding stance. Larry then does it again, and then again, and again, and again... With each punch of Larry, Simo wonders how on earth and why does he being tougher to deal with when he is without a weapon?!

Simo and Anastasia quickly swung their greatsword in overhead position at Larry in which he stopped it between his palm again, but this time, they won't let Larry tossing them around like the last time. They let out their cry as they pushing the blade down against Larry and they soon managed to do so but Larry jumped out of its path right at the last second and thus the only damage he received is just on his clothes.

Larry just simply annoyed at the duo's attempt to fight back against him, he then grabbed the Muramasa which is being plunged into the snow until now. This time, he ain't gonna be so merciful anymore.

Suddenly moving like an afterimage, the duo tried to attack him but only grasping at straws in an attempt to land even a single attack. Larry then jumped back away from Simo and Anastasia as he sheathed his blade and assuming his stance. Right in the next second, the snow around him blew away from the sheer speed that he moves and just when Larry got close, he pressed the trigger. The crimson slash appeared and strike into the greatsword that both Simo and Anastasia with such a force that they were pushed away tremendously. Even if they weren't hit by the Muramasa directly, the shockwave it created would have done the same.

This time, Larry is at their back and quickly prepared for another quick draw slash right after he did one just now. Both Simo and Anastasia turned around and sees him about to do it again. They quickly raised their guard and if they were any second late, they would be bisected right now. However, due to improper guarding stance, they got knocked away into the ground.

Simo and Ana quickly tried to get back onto their feet but Larry is about to pull another quick-draw slash for the third time. Realizing that they don't have any time left to stand up, they decided to grab the blade as fast as they could and raised it to block another strike and-

The Muramasa collided with the crystalline greatsword again and this time both of them got knocked away once more and their blades disarmed from them as it flew a distance away from them. Both Simo and Ana then stand up for themselves and reaches toward the greatsword that is currently being plunged to the snow as fast as they could.

The air froze, Simo swore that he thought the surrounding just turned completely red for a brief moment, he turned around and saw Larry is charging up for an extremely powerful attack that is being redirected at them if the flash in the Muramasa is any indication. Both of them grabbed the greatsword once more and Larry is about to unleash his attack the moment he pressed the trigger

_Helix Blade!_

A crimson tornado unleashed the moment he pulled that quickdraw slash as it rushes toward them with an ungodly speed. Right at that moment, their hearts skipped a beat as their body and mind act before they could process what just happened. With one hand still holding onto the greatsword, they acrobatically and gracefully dodged that tornado of slashes as they flip with their other hands and managed to take back their greatsword without any problem.

The air froze again, this time they learned that the surrounding turned completely red is because Larry's charged attack with the Muramasa caused a massive spike in mana in the vicinity to the point it affects its surrounding. Not that it could affect them but it does serve as a good warning sign of what Larry may try to do. The only thing they hope that it won't be something that they can't handle.

This time, Larry charges straight forward to them as he unleashes the Muramasa right at the close-quarter and in front of Simo directly. Both of them knew this isn't gonna end well for them.

_Tidal Wave!_

With a rising upward slash, the power of the Muramasa sent both of them sky-high. Both Simo and Anastasia got sent to the sky but they at least not flat out dead although they couldn't say the same to the greatsword as it got split into half. Simo then glides himself to reach for the hilt once more and Anastasia started to hold onto him from the back.

"I won't let you went through that tragic fate once more," Anastasia said to him.

Simo doesn't understand what she meant by the tragic fate but he fully understands the feeling she has for him right now. He thought it might have something to do with his last summoning but he won't make any further question lest he risks breaking this grace of harmony they have

Feeling that he is descending even faster, he felt that he is being enveloped by something and before he realized it, Larry is right in front of him.

Both of then crashed into the ground and created a massive cloud of snow and tremor upon their impact. Simo stood up once more with his broken greatsword plunged into the snow while Anastasia is still holding onto him.

He then pulled the sword up from the snow and the rest of the greatsword itself is repaired almost in a miraculous way. The greatsword fixed itself just by plunging it into the snow and now he has something to fight back once more. Anastasia then dropped off from Simo's back and quickly rejoined him into the sword fighting stance.

Larry who avoided getting crashed into now sheathed his Muramasa again, with this time aiming to kill them for once and for all. He then pressed the trigger and the blade will quickly move into thousands of slash in the next second. However, both Simo and Anastasia won't let Larry keep getting the upper hand like this anymore. Simo applying his 'godspeed' skill to the blade as both of them are moving so fast to the point they are matching the Muramasa in terms of pure raw speed alone.

Thousands of clashes were followed as both of them unleashed all of their attacks with all of their might. The last blow ended up causing a massive shockwave which pushed both of them back. Both Simo and Ana felt tired and like going to have a headache if keeping this up.

Larry falls back and sheathed the blade once more, Simo quickly realized that he has to end this now, deflect the first blow before it would follow up to a barrage of thousands. Both of them changed into back left position charged in unison as they quickly swung the blade into an upward arc. And just like that, they managed to stop the first blow from going with their sword.

Sparks flying from the clash between the Muramasa and the crystalline greatsword as none of them are willing to yield. The intensity of the spark created by their clash is so bright that not even the napalm flame around them could match against.

But... Sometimes... Being unbreakable doesn't equal strength.

The crystalline greatsword in Simo and Ana's hands snaps against Muramasa but instead of disengaging from Larry, they pushed forward with all their might and with their graceful movement and perfect synchronization, Simo and Anastasia swung their blade together as it slits through Larry's eyes. There is no blood from him at all but they could tell that they have struck right in his eyes.

With his vision completely ruined, Larry lashing out the Muramasa at everywhere he could, thinking that he will strike Simo somehow. Anastasia used her power to levitate both her and him into the air and they silently watching Larry lashing out at nothing with his Muramasa.

Larry looks really pathetic in his attempt to kill Simo but he was too blinded in rage and hatred to even realize that. Simo decided that he needs to subdue that rage immediately, plus... he has something to ask Larry for.

Wielding the greatsword once more after landing on the ground, they prepared their stance and when the moment comes, both Simo and Ana quickly dash forward with a focused thrust. Due to Larry's attacks being a completely incoherent mess, the singular focused thrust quickly impaled straight into Larry's chest as his body jolted instinctively before feeling the freezing chill it gives.

Simo doesn't even want to kill anymore, he just wanted this whole thing to end.

Larry stopped swinging his blade as he kneels to the ground, his rage started to die down as he lost any reason left to continue to fight. Soon, even the napalm flame around them died down just like his rage and hatred that drives him so far.

"It's... over..." Simo whispered as he let go of the greatsword.

Larry doesn't say anything as if he accepted his fate, it takes a lot to even make him accepting defeat in the first place.

"Why? Why did you do this?!" Larry said as if he wanted an answer for this madness.

Simo doesn't know how he should answer it. It is not that he doesn't have an answer but rather, he doesn't know how he should convey it to Larry without agitating him even more.

"Larry, tell me... What happened during the last 4 years?" Simo asked.

4 years? Simo has been in this world this long? This raised a whole lot of question but everything Larry knows will be revealed soon.

"Beats me, I have been summoned for the last 5 years and I know jack shit compared to you. The only reason I got summoned is because of my affiliation with the SS Waffen, nothing more." Larry answered.

"Russia, tell me what happened there. I want your side of the story at that place too." Simo asked.

"That place? If you mean that contaminated wasteland with no hope of survival then it is true that I have my part of causing it." Larry said.

"A contaminated wasteland. You were half right about that. There are indeed contaminated wastelands but the truth isn't what you think it is..." Simo said.

Both of them have a brief of silence as they are about to step into something that points out even a greater picture.

"It was a pure land of white emptiness, it was as if Russia itself is wiped out like paint from the canvas. There were elevations but none of them have more than a digit worth of meters. It just... empty" Simo said.

Larry can't open his eyes but Simo could tell the disbelief in it. It was as if Larry didn't know about it at all.

"There has to be something that caused such destruction like that... It just impossible to be you even with the WMD you may have at the disposal. It has to be something completely on the realm of god to erase something like that from the plane of existence." Simo said.

Larry suddenly flashed back, he remembered one thing, Alice... the girl who held extraordinary power that is beyond any Divine. He never checked Russia ever again after killing Stalin personally by himself and send over a dirty bomb that crippled any chance of anything that could live there. But that is all there is, he never knows that something else was sent along with it and that is before he knew anything about Alice.

"And let's talk about something else, our homeland," Larry said as he switched the subject.

Larry suddenly got his attention caught by what Simo said. What happened back there?

"Finland is where I got summoned but there was nobody there at all. There was only the silence that spread through the atmosphere with the unbridled cold and snowstorm. And yet there was no sign of war, no dead body, no stench of death... just pure empty cityscape. It was as if everyone just disappeared suddenly without an answer. I thought it just this town and so I spent 3 years of it searching for any living soul in there but all I got was still nothingness." Simo said.

Nobody? A thought runs through Larry's mind as he can't fathom the idea of Finland being completely devoid of life. But how? And...

"That's when I realized, I have to seek the truth of this matter and thus I made my path to the Third Reich but realized that I can't brute force through without getting decimated and thus I decided to try anything I could do in the matter. I have walked through the vast land of Europe for this alone. Just to find you..." Simo said.

Larry went deep in thought, how could the whole of Finland be up and gone like that even without a single fight? Just what happened-

Larry suddenly understands... It was the same reason that the whole German populace up till now is still haven't found yet. The whole desolated area and derelict buildings. All of this time he wondered, why there was no living soul but the one right in the heart of the fifth ring is still alive in this accursed hell. Now, he just reached that conclusion for himself after this long.

He laughed hysterically for himself for taking even this long to realize. He may have been a remarkable military man but he was too stubborn and headfirst to realize the bigger picture until it was too late.

Soon, the crystal clear blood that drips from the wound of his eyes started to turn red. It was as if he has reached acceptance that there is nothing left to truly be there for him. No longer clinging to hatred, only empty acceptance that it is truly the end.

"My identity... I threw it around like a piece of rag. This flowing tears of mine, when was the last time I cried? Oh right, when those greedy bastards took away my hometown after having the gall to invade then fail to do so. I cried like a bitch, that was probably when I truly died an identity death. This hollow shell of mine is just vengeance of that day incarnated. And now... There is truly nothing left, I have gone too far for any hope of redemption or to even forgive myself..." Larry said as his voice was filled with regret.

"Larry... You... Your wound..." Simo tried to reach out to his friend.

"Did I forget to tell you?... In my world... the color of red doesn't exist... So this has to be... _my tears_..." Larry said as he touched on the 'tears' rolling down his face.

Larry then truly let loose his bottled up feelings and Simo and Anastasia just watching a grown man letting his heart loose like it. To be devastated by loss is one thing but to let that loss controlling you and brought ruin and devastation to the others is just cruel. Larry, he needed his methodology born from mind-shattering loss to be shown that it is not an answer to resolve his inner turmoil.

"Simo, please help them. They're... the only hope left... for this world..." Larry tried to say to Simo when he managed to calm down.

Larry then collapsed into the ground and soon only the silence remains, the napalm flame died down along with his intense emotions. Simo couldn't ask for a better end than this. At least, it didn't end in a bloodbath.

"So you have accomplished your side of the deal then." A voice of an old veteran said to him as he approaches.

It was the Russians that the Chaldean encountered during their journey through the second ring. It seems that Simo has made a deal with them or-

Simo took out his Suomi and aim it at them. It seems that he is the actual one who is holding the upper hand despite the Russian have three Servants on their side.

"No need to be so cautious. I'm just here to ascertain-" Reznov said as he slowly approaches toward before suddenly stopped.

A mountain of ice was raised as it encases Larry beneath thousand feet of ice. It seems that not even Anastasia placed that much trust on her fellow brethren. It also speaks volumes when she would rather protect the one who almost killed her rather than those of the same nation she lived in.

"Don't forget, it was I who beat all three of your Servants in the first place. If you tried to do anything underhanded then you are going to die." Simo said.

"Woah there, don't act like I would backstab you at this far. If none of my Servants working together managed to defeat you then I have no reason to even make an enemy out of you." Reznov said although Simo still wary of him even if they cooperate this far.

"This is the end of our deal. I took down Larry for you and so you will transact her command to me. If you refuse, I would make it so either way." Simo said.

"Heh... Fine... Not like I have any use for her when she can't even trust me in the first place." Reznov said as he looked at the ice pale that Anastasia created on top of Larry.

Both Simo and Ana then moved away from the ice pale while the soul-freezing wind still howls across the empty boundary. Soon, even the ice pale itself is gone from their sights.

"Anastasia... Base on how you acted just now... Did you remember anything about me?" Simo asked.

Anastasia nodded. Simo doesn't know if he should bet on it or not but in the end, he decided to let the vessel reunited with what he lost. Gudao didn't know how right he was when he managed to guest that both of their egos are so low that nobody is in control of who at all. It just that Kadoc left the combat to Simo and Simo left Kadoc with the negotiation. That is how they managed to get Anastasia through the collective efforts of each other, the final key piece to break through the fifth wall.

Something in Simo's eyes changed as if Simo decided to give the spotlight back to Kadoc.

"Anastasia... Let us strife forward to a better tomorrow, don't we?" Kadoc said.

Anastasia smiled to him while still holding onto her doll. It was such a heartwarming scene in this frozen wasteland.

* * *

_**Servants Profile**_

_**The Avenger **__** Wise up!**_

_**Class: Archer/Avenger **_

_True Name:__Lauri Torni (Larry Thorne)_

_Parameter:_

_Str: B | Agi: B+ | End: B | Mana: D | Luck: E | NP: B++_

_Passive Skills:_

_Oblivion Correction C: The hatred towards those who took all he hold dear was extremely powerful to the point that mentioning it would make him filled with rage and intense hatred. _

_Magic Resistance D: Due to innate resistance against harsh weather that would otherwise incapciate normal people, he managed to attain a slightly higher than normal Magic Resistance compare to many other Modern Servant._

_Independent Action C: He served no one but his conquest against one only target, communism. To him, others are just happened to be aligned with his goal. Can act for a few days without a Master as long as said Servant does not use their Noble Phantasm._

_Personal Skills:_

_Evasive Disengage B+: With his commanding skills and the ability to act accordingly to situation with unreal foresight. Larry is capable of making path of retreat or keeping distance against his enemy while treating himself and others._

_Eternal Arm Mastery C+ (Disciplinary): A skill attained from his long-time warfare experience and usage of many weapons ranging from duration WW2 to Cold War. This skill allow him to use any weapon skillfully no matter what._

_Tears of Denial A: "In my world... the color of red doesn't exist..." A skill born from the trauma of the past that affected his mentality even until now. A pain of loss that was so great that it affected him to the point that loss became what turned him into a weapon that devastate those who took all he had._

**_Noble Phantasm_**

**_|Trinity Soldier|  
_****_The Soldier of Three Armies_**

**_Rank B+| Classification: Anti-Army_**

_A Noble Phantasm that culminates everything and all of what he had in his life. His works and extensive background as a soldier stretching back to three armies. Detachment 20 of Finnland, SS Waffen of Germany, Green Beret of American. All of these for one singular goal in mind, the destruction of communism. The Finnland for traversy speed, German for raw firepower, American for two of them combined and enhanced to a greater degree but will reveal his True Name upon using._

**_|Bloodstained Philosophy|  
Painful Retribution_**

_**Rank A| Classification: Self-Enhancement**_

_A Noble Phantasm that enhance Larry's strength and endurance immensely based on how much intense negative emotions he has. Rage, hatred, loathe, all sorts of negative emotions that raise combat spirit of his._


	18. No More Tears Left to Shed

**Warning: This fanfic dealt with probably controversial themes and you may find it not suitable for you. If you still decide to read, then stay strong and brace yourself for what you are about to read. This story here happens in Arc 2 and thus may contain some spoilers.**

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_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Chapter 18: No More Tears Left to Shed**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

When they saw the spirals of flame from the distance extinguished, they thought that Larry has overcome his hurdle and will soon return to their side. However, they still making their way posthaste in their final stretch for the fifth wall. Before they realized it, they have already made it there and now waiting for their friend to return. But... that day never came.

They waited... Hoping that Larry would at least return by their side... but they were answered with nothing but the sounds of rain and howling winds. Soon... they came to accept one final conclusion that they wanted to deny accepting in the first place. Larry is gone... forever...

"Ugh... I swear that each time I slept, the amount of rest I actually get decreased." Arnold said as he stretches himself as he tried to stand up in a derelict house somewhere near the vicinity of the fifth wall.

"Yeah... I think I hear Desmond's crying too. The guy has been mourning his friend's passing from the last night. It pains me too, and I think everyone is thinking the same thing..." Alfin said as she stands up from the floor that she slept on.

Both of them exit the building as the dark cloud hanging above them are raining down ceaselessly on them. This is it... the moment of truth and their final destination. The fifth wall...

"Hey... At least restore your strength a bit before doing anything." Shirou said as he hands out a piping hot bowl of stew for each one of them.

Both of them just looking at the bowl of stew that they hold in their hand without saying anything. The fact that Larry is dead still holding them from the back of their mind. It just hard to push that thought aside. This is their first casualty after having such a perfect streak for so long. It just hit them in a way that they didn't even think is possible.

Arnold sighed, he saw deaths so many times in his memory. Those bloodstained his memory of his and his ultimate end as a messenger. So many things that he couldn't sort out at all as those lingering thoughts clouding his vision. But all of those deaths were nameless, the people that he couldn't know otherwise. But to see a person that he understood and knowing so much to die like that, it felt like his heart being punched right into its dick.

"Arnold?" Alfin said as she tried to get his attention.

"Uh... Yeah... Thank you..." Arnold said to Shirou as he tried to avoid making any conversation by making all of them felt half-hearted.

Shirou just looked at Arnold in doubt, that look in his eyes is telling Shirou that Arnold has reached what is most likely a consensus of all of what he knows. All he needed is a slight push in the right direction to reach his full potential. Perhaps... even reattaining his Noble Phantasm.

"The moment of truth is near, isn't it..." Shirou whispered to himself.

Meanwhile, at the top of the highest building near the fifth wall. Kiritsugu and Richard are scouting and observe the wall and scrutinize for everything that they could use to their advantages but the longer they look at it, the more discouraged they are just by how overwhelmingly powerful it looks.

The wall isn't made out of concrete anymore. It is more like a construct made entirely out of steel. Heavy artilleries lining up for a massive volley firing, threatening to destroy anything approaching it. The autocannons and heavy-fire anti-tank cannons are built all over the place within the wall to rain down a massive hail of ballistics in a matter of seconds. A massive amount of armored units and infantry standing right in front of the wall with an amount that is so staggering that it looks like a sea of dark gray.

The ground in front of the wall was littered with any possible trap and stopper that it is plain impossible to tell just how much of them are there. If the fourth wall is like a boss fight then fifth looks like a secret extremely difficult boss that is overdosed on steroid and cocaine and shit. No matter how one may look at it, breaking through the fifth wall is just plain impossible.

"Damn... How do we make it past them?" Kiritsugu said.

"I'm not faring any better than you, things like these are just so over the top that not even my mind could comprehend the scale at all.". Richard said as he tried to avert his gaze from the wall so that he can spare his mind from the insanity.

Kiritsugu keeps thinking, there is literally no hope for any of them to break through here but one person, Alfin. Her special power to absorb literally anything metallic and projectiles as mana and uses them against the enemy and especially powerful against an enemy like this. But it brought to him another attention, can she handle the tension? Even this is too much for even a Servant to carry and handle.

Kiritsugu keeps thinking until Richard patted him on his shoulder.

"Your Master is calling you over.". Richard said to the assassin.

Kiritsugu sighed, he knew that they can't afford to waste any more time standing idly here. But the fact that he dreads trying to go up against the fifth wall just to show how dangerous it is. No amount of courage would assure one's success at all. Unless they have something that can prevent the first strike or take down as many of the Azure Soldiers within the first attack of theirs before their opponents could do anything, they will be wiped out at the first second, he fucking assured it.

"Things just looking even far direr with each second passed.". Kiritsugu whispered for himself.

Meanwhile, at the house that the Chaldean resided temporarily. Both Kuro and Illya are exchanging information with their older sister through the communicator that they lent from their Master. The revelation regarding this mysterious material and how they might have changed this world.

"Judgment in the color of the sky... To think that is how things might have happened." Illya said.

"That's the briefest I could tell you about it, considering that all of these are remaining information of our Proper Human History in regarding this it might be subject to change depends on what you might learn about it in this world. I won't say that my information is unreliable but what you found can change the whole context by _a lot."_ Sitonai said to her sister.

"Understood. Hope that I will still live to see you in the next few hours, sis..." Kuro said before she turns off the communicator.

They have seen the fifth wall too, and needless to say that they are already started to shake in fear whenever the image of that wall plays out in their minds. They don't need to see it in action to feel fear and worry.

Soon, they quickly dismiss that image from their minds as they attempt to steel themselves for whatever to come.

"What am I even kidding!? If I am going to face it eventually, I will at least braving it with a smile on my face!" Illya said boisterously.

"Well... If there is nothing left that I can do but accept it then I would at least do so with as much bravery that I could muster." Kuro said as she tried to force a smile on her face but can't help but worry about how they will make it through.

With a new resolution being reached, the sisters will now try to fight with all they have.

On the floor above them is Desmond who is gazing emptily to the place where the battle between the White Death and his friend occurred. But until now, it has already been proven crystal clear that his friend is no longer in this world. No amount of mourning and sobbing will bring his friend back and he knew it already... So then, why does he still feel like this?

Shirou opened the door to his room as he saw Desmond sits there while looking out at the rain outside. Seeing how broken the guy is at his friend's death, he wouldn't blame him for doing so. Shirou went through the same kind of survivor's guilt that torment him only until much later would he realized it. Such sacrifice at the time was unavoidable, seeing what unfolded in the Lostbelts and the Servants there accompanied him dying one by one as they sacrifice themselves just to clear a path for him forward to reach for his victory.

"Desmond? Are you okay?" Shirou asked.

Desmond doesn't answer at all. He was too caught up in his own emotional turmoil to pay any heed of Shirou. His fractured will is going to take a lot more in order to recover from that devastating loss to him.

"You know... Desmond... I too, do understand the loss of those who were close to you..." Shirou said as he tried to find a way to get his attention.

"What is it? I haven't seen you lost any of your family members yet here I have lost my friend already. If you lost someone else that you know then just tell me." Desmond said as he tried to be uncaring.

"Throughout the extent of 3 years worth of working at Chaldea, I see many shares of happy moments and tragedy. But Lostbelts that we Chaldeans have to deal with is another whole batch of different problems altogether. At that point, the difficulty scaled up to Herculean Tasks and not even many of us ever hope to think that we will make it out alive. The Servants that were summoned there... their blood was on our hands as the sacrifice toll keeps scaling and all of those blood that we shed ultimately lies on our Master. Those that fight together with us, those we fought against, those who were happened to standby and suffered for it,... You don't understand just how much I went through all of those times of suffering." Shirou said as he tried to suppress the emotions that are swelling up from the inside when he recalls them.

Desmond remained silent as he listened to Shirou's story.

"No matter the life that we lost, they can't return once they're gone. No amount of mourning, crying, sobbing could bring them back... Once gone, forever gone. All we can really do is just to push forward no matter what.". Shirou said.

Desmond still remaining silent. Shirou sees that only time would mend the wound in his heart but he hopes that his words would at least manage to reach him no matter what. Shirou then exit the room and closes the door but before he does so, he looked back and sees Desmond still gazing emptily, he decided to close the door and continue on.

The moment of truth is going to come. Whether he like it or not, all he can really hope to do is to make sure everyone will make it through the day. The final hurdle is ahead and there is no running left. He let out a silent sigh, hoping that this assault won't end up in disaster.

The time has come, Gudao and Pierce gathered every Servant they have left as they stand in front of the massive wall that scales beyond than how they could possibly imagine. They are still a bit distance away so they won't trigger the whole place to open fire on them.

"You know... I wish that we still have Alice..." Pierce said but he knew there is no point of weeping over something happened already.

"Hey!" A voice said to them as they are getting ready themselves.

They turned around and see Desmond running towards them with his gears readied.

"I realized that I can't keep sulking like that, my friend would have otherwise laughed at me for how pathetic I am. I tried to save every life I could yet the idea I failed to save the closest one to me is what truly struck me in the weak spot. But not anymore, I will still keep moving forward even without him, he would have said the same otherwise." Desmond said as his voice is brimming with determination,

"So the time has come... Everyone, brace yourself... And-" Gudao about to command his Servant until he felt that he is sensing something that is sending down chill into his spine.

The temperature is dropping as everyone can feel the cold wind that is howling. The diamond dust started to form around them due to the temperature is dropping rapidly like a freefall without stopping. At that moment, they realized it as it sends an unnerving dread into their minds.

The White Death is coming back and he will finish his job.

"No... We made it so far... This can't possibly be happening!" Kuro said as she felt the fear quickly overwhelming her.

They looked back and saw something moving at them with unbelievable speed. One that is fast enough to raise the dust behind them high enough to the point the rain couldn't stop it. The Chaldeans looked down at the ground below their feet and realized that it is freezing which means they are in the White Death's path.

"Everyone! Get out now!" Gudao said as he quickly jumped away from the frozen ground.

Shirou grabbed his Master by the collar as he made it away and everyone tried to do the same. Soon, the White Death ran pass them and straight into the no man's land ahead of him without stopping. Turns out, they were never in White Death's target at all but rather, he is attempting to break through the fifth wall with his own effort.

"What is he doing!? Is he trying to suicide!?" Shirou said as he tried to pick himself up from the ground.

Shirou used his Hawkeye on Simo and saw that he is carrying someone else on his back. It was Anastasia from before, seeing what the duo is trying to accomplish, Shirou realized what they truly intend on doing.

With the perfect combination of their power and their covering of each others' weaknesses, with perfect synergy and swift movements that they have. They quickly move their way out of the artillery salvo whether by evading or straight-up firing massive icicles to clash against the hail of ballistics raining down on them. The moment they got out of the storm of artillery shells, the ground units quickly unleashing their armaments on the duo mercilessly.

Simo noticed it and Anastasia quickly summoned an ice pale right beneath their position and pushed them upward into the sky. The ground infantry quickly aims their armaments upward and the wall's autocannons do the same. Anastasia quickly creates dozens of icicles shard to fire them independently from her position at the army of Azure Soldiers below her. Simo utilizes his beyond reflex as he quickly deflects and evaded all of the hail bullets rushing towards him and her.

The icicles that were fired quickly pierced into the ground below them as their near absolute zero temperature quickly froze the ground quickly and anything that was close in its proximity.

Soon, they landed on the ground with such impacts that it shook the whole battlefield, and just as quickly as they landed did Anastasia used her power to raise a massive wall of ice to cover Simo and her from the enemy's ballistic rain. Bullets and shells clashing on the wall of ice as it slowly chipping through it. However, this wall of ice isn't meant to giving them protection. In fact, he will use it for offensive purposes.

"Anastasia! Lend me your strength!" Simo yelled as he plunged his Mosin into the ground.

Anastasia nodded as she placed her hands on the Mosin, she then channels her power into it as frost started to gather into his gun. He then lifts the gun up only to reveal that same crystalline ice greatsword from before. The same kind that he used to fight back against Larry's Muramasa.

He lifted the thing up and Anastasia channels even more of her power into it as the blade itself lengthen into an unholy degree. With the length of 50 meters, it became way too unwieldy and unusable for practical combat but he isn't using it to slash anyone. No, he uses it to smash this wall of ice into a storm of ice!

Both of them gathered all of their ounce of strength together as they applied as much power as they could into the massive greatsword. With one strike, the whole wall shattered into a massive fragmentation blast that scatters across the battlefield ahead of them. Those fragments shredding through Azure Soldiers and armored units like scissors through the paper.

When the path is cleared, they quickly rushing through with a speed that breaks pass hypersonic speed as the ground they moved on froze from their power. His intention is to get as inhumanly close as possible to the wall and draws in as many Azure Soldiers as possible. When they got close enough, Simo plunged his rifle into the ground as the frost quickly spreads across at rapid speed. Anastasia then reinforces the spell with her own unparalleled power that they quickly surrounding themselves with a wall of ice that stretches as high as the sky and kissed the cloud above them.

Needless to say that the Azure Soldiers started to focus fire on the wall as they quickly chipping through it with the fifth wall's might with the weaponry installed on it. Simo and Anastasia who is currently standing inside of the wall of ice that they surrounded themselves in. They nodded together as Simo kneel to the ground with one hand placed on his chest and closed his eyes to maximize his focus, Anastasia held onto his back while the wall around them is collapsing.

He knew what he planned out all along, and this is the time... to use his Noble Phantasm!

_Almost night in a crimson horizon  
Painting thousand lakes reds  
As the enemy approaching from the east  
And a tale of the pale reaper is born_

_All alone, a reaper with his gun  
As he wanders into the wild  
Tracking down and reveal their hidings  
Once he is onto your trails  
_

_Enter the night with a flash in the darkness  
The Pale Reaper is heading your way  
Feared by his foes and revered as a hero  
Hundreds will fall by his gun._

_You are in the sniper's sight  
__The first kill tonight  
Time to die!  
You're in the bullet's way  
The White Death's prey  
Say goodbye!_

Right after the last verse in his incantation, the temperature dropped sharply to the point it is bordering on absolute zero. The wall around them by this point has collapsed entirely but it doesn't matter anymore. He will drag as many of them as possible into his Noble Phantasm. The extreme cold quickly spreading through the battlefield and soon their location flashed brightly to the point it is blinding. Soon, the flash disappeared along with them... and a huge portion of enemy's Azure Soldiers.

Everyone else was too baffled at what just happened as if it was some sort of fever dream that they caught. But soon they accept that this is reality and they will have to strive forward if they wanted any chance of surviving. Plus, considering the White Death has taken away a large chunk of the enemy's force, it will be easier for them to fight now that the intensity has been alleviated even if by a small amount.

"Everyone! Now!" Gudao said as he commanded all of his Servants to go first.

All of Gudao's Servants now quickly rushing to the frozen battlefield as fast as they could while the enemy's formation is still disrupted. Kiritsugu takes out a machine gun and starts to fire with it at his enemies, Shirou and Kuro fire their traced swords which are levitating in the air the moment they materialized. Illya flew high up into the sky and giving suppression fire with her Mystic Code's attack. Everyone is basically using every of their ability to their best while their enemy is still in disarray.

However, the fifth wall gets back online faster than its garrison and quickly unleashing their armaments' barrage upon the Chaldeans. Illya noticed and quickly dive down as fast as she could, she can't tell why she did something like that but her body just acts on its own without hesitation. Kuro noticed quickly used the shield of Aias to protect herself and her family.

_Rho Aias_

The seven petal shield appeared out of thin air once more as it quickly blocked the rain of ceaseless barrage of ballistics that is approaching them. However, they knew that not even the shield of Aias would last for a good duration considering that the enemy is capable of firepower that could destroy timeless blades. The shield is just an emergency maneuver for what is about to come.

Artillery shells landed on it exploded with such power that it felt like an army worth's of ammunition couldn't even measure up to a minuscule amount of gunpowder used for this shell. Two petals were broke upon that impact that not even many thrown spears in mythology could even pierce one. Kuro winced in pain as the damage is being transferred to her.

"Kuro! Quick, we have to do something!" Illya said as she stood behind the shield of Aias.

Shirou and Kiritsugu looked at each other then jumped immediately to action, Shirou traced as many blades in front of them and Kiritsugu quickly removed the concept of time from the blades itself. Soon, Kuro dispels the shield away as they managed to create a barrier that stood between them and the barrage of gunfire that would threaten to devour them whole.

"How do we get closer to them now?" Kuro asked as her mother is healing the injury that her right arm sustained from the damage inflicted on Rho Aias.

Soon, the barrage around suddenly stopped in the middle of the air and they looked back and saw Alfin and everyone else is approaching them from behind.

"Don't forget us like that, you know!? We are in one same team, damn it!" Alfin said as she quickly returned those barrages with such a speed that they ignited from sheer friction alone.

Gudao then grunted that he forgot his own allies who made it this far with him. Suddenly, he heard the timeless blades being cracked from the force they were forced to withstood against. Pierce quickly runs up to right directly in front of the crack and right in the next moment, the crack fractured into a large hole which bullets would have flown through it if Pierce didn't stand right in front of it. However, none of them could damage him thanks to the power of Crisis Core which basically nullifies any kinetic based attack against him.

Alfin then quickly jumped into action as the color of her eyes turned into the color of burning ember. Ballistics being stopped right in its track as she quickly turned all of them around and return them right back to senders. This resulted in massive-scale destruction into the enemy's formation and disrupted their unity once more.

"Everyone, now!" Alfin said as she quickly steps forward.

Everyone then quickly gathers on their feet and moved forward as they tried to get as close as they could to the fifth wall. However, the ground infantry units quickly charge toward them like a tsunami as they can instinctively sense the feral rage that is so overwhelming that they could get nauseated from it. Unless they have any Anti-Army Noble Phantasm, they would get steamrolled right immediately if not doing something right now.

Shirou and Kuro looked at each other then started to breathe calmly despite their lives are hanging on the balance between life and death. They then nodded as Shirou quickly gazed back at his Master, it was then that Gudao also realized something. And right at that moment, Gudao then looked back to his fellow allies who aren't Chaldeans.

"Everyone! Let me tell you this now! Turn back and stay away as far from us as you could!" Gudao said as he tried to warn everyone else.

Pierce wanted to have his word said but Richard placed his hand on his Master's shoulder then shake his head. He then realized that if his Servant has something important to say then he decided to heed his words even if not speaking directly. Arnold then grabbed Alfin by her hand then try to move away from the Chaldean as fast as he could.

Now that they have been left to their device. Shirou then cooperates with his father once more as they together use their expertise together and created another wall of timeless blades to protect themselves from whatever may land on them. And then the siblings, Shirou and Kuro. They then stand up, positioning themselves facing away from each other. Even if not looking at each other at all, they can sense each other to the point they felt like one. That's the ultimate culmination of their siblings bond, whose connection is mere of just using one same power.

However, that bond between them is real as they have seen many hardships, went through many Herculean Tasks, facing far and many more surpassing foes that they were forced to be up against but they have never once given up and continue strive through and moving towards their deserved tomorrow. Their understanding of themselves has increased tremendously from the beginning of their summoning and even until now.

Kuro understands one thing, despite sharing the same power, she is incapable of using it to the same extent as her brother. She can't even bring her inner world out to reality unlike him because she doesn't embrace that ideal fully like him. However, she won't let it become an obstacle for her to reach the true potential of her Noble Phantasm. She will bring it out through her brother's help!

"Kuro, are you ready?" Shirou said to his sister.

"Yeah, let's do this!" Kuro said boisterously as if she is filled with conviction.

They then both closed their eyes as fleeting memory ran through their mind. To truly understand their ideal, they have to go back, go back to their origin, and square one of their ideal. Without any sheds of doubt and hesitation, they together chanted the poem of their life, the incantation of duality and heroism itself. The very oath that they have sworn to become the very hero they are right now.

_**Words of God:**__** For this part, play Emiya - Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works. The bold is Shirou's voice, the italic is Kuro's voice. If both then both of them at the same time.**_

**Our shattered dreams forged into our blades  
**_In our eyes, lied emptiness  
_**My memories were in flux  
**_As your life was consumed before you  
__**But not even Fate could hide us from Destiny**_

**Our chances dwindled, but...  
**_We found the light, we found... Salvation  
_**We thought it was through death  
**_But it was not how we expected_**  
**

**Wills clashed, at the feet of our souls  
**_As the sounds of broken blades echo through the landscape  
_**We cried in sorrow, yet in defiance  
**_But just in time did we finally see_**  
**

**_Our wills are Unlimited  
Our broken Blades made anew  
Our Works... mattered_**

**And just in time did I realize  
**_We were never just a sword  
_**Even Heroes have dreams too**

_**Because for the first time we understood  
That we were never wrong  
That we...  
Our heroes...**_

_**Were never wrong...**_

Soon, the blue flame started to erupt from beneath their feet as it quickly spread out to their surroundings. By the time they finish this incantation, Azure Soldiers have pretty much nearly surrounding them along with a huge portion of armored units accompanying them. But that flame quickly spreading around and engulfs them with such intensity that it is blinding. The flame was bright and intense but it doesn't emanate any heat at all, it felt like it touches you but isn't there at all.

And soon, the Chaldean has vanished away and pretty much the rest of the Azure Soldiers that were trying to surround them. Now that there is barely anything defending the fifth wall except for itself. Now, it is just one clear path towards the wall.

"Richard? What did they do?" Pierce asked as he found the idea of them vanished by themselves unbelievable.

"Reality Marble, you did enter that place once already, right? Now? That's just you happened to be outside its range." Richard said as he getting down to position before making a dash towards the fifth wall.

Pierce noticed as he quickly gathering up speed and moves at the same speed his Servant did. Alfin quickly moves from behind to catch up as Arnold is also pursuing her. They have to take every ounce of advantages they have or there won't be any hope of surviving left for them.

Soon, the wall's armament rearmed itself and quickly unleash that same hell upon them again, Richard quickly halted himself from moving as he tried to get behind Alfin as fast as he could. With the hail of ballistics that is running towards them, with every second that is dwindling down, Alfin quickly musters everyone ounce of her willpower as her eyes turned into the color of melting steel.

The hail of ballistics stopped dead right in front of her as they just froze. Sweats started to drop from her forehead as her mind trying to handle itself from the sheer amount of ballistics that she is blocking. Thanks to the White Death's icicles that many of the trap emplaced here actually self-neutralized itself from the sheer cold alone that they became fractured upon contact and thus giving them moving ground without worrying about stepping on a trap that would fatally cripple them.

She ignited them all up and then quickly resends them back to the fifth wall with all her might behind. The moment she did so, she kneels to the ground from the sheer stress and headache that she felt from trying to process that much amount of ballistics being fired. Even then she gritted her teeth as she is trying to hold herself up and moving forward no matter what. The resent projectiles collided with the wall with such great force that it raised a massive dust cloud from the collision.

But unlike before where she could just reflect back all of the projectiles and let it do the work, the wall's defense was greater than its armaments. When the dust cleared up, there is not even a single dent at all, it just swats all of what she sent like nothing.

Arnold swore that he could hear her heart shatters as tears started to flow from her eyes, she then created multiple chains as they burst through from the frozen ground as they rush towards the wall. They quickly cling on to any armament that it contacts with and she quickly uses all of her strength to pull them back for herself, however, they refused to budge no matter how hard she pulled. In fact, she is dragging herself towards the wall instead. That's when another fatal flaw in her plan was revealed.

The whole structure was made from steel, to begin with. The fact that she is expecting the armaments to be disconnected from the wall easily like before without considering that fact is already a fatal move in itself. If she tried to do so, she would require the strength that is needed to uproot the fifth wall in itself from the ground up and drag it to her which is impossible without the Strength of a Berserker.

Arnold realized it and decided to quickly act before she would doom herself in her futility. He quickly rushes toward the wall with all of his speed behind it and noticed that there are still some stragglers left behind from all of her attacks which is attempting to hinder his plan.

"Spirit Phaze!" Arnold yelled as he lunged forward with the angel wings sprouted metaphysically on his back as he moves forward with unreal speed.

And the thing is... he is basically physically intangible during Spirit Phaze and anything attempt to stop in his path gets destroyed without any mercy. Not even Azure Soldiers, not even the Panzersoldat or Tigers. All of them are basically just a flight of grass against the lawnmower called himself.

He cuts through all of them as he quickly rushes toward the fifth wall with a speed that not even anything here could match it at all. And then he collided with the fifth wall head-on with such a force that it is deafening to the point that it could rupture everyone's eardrums. Soon, the angel wings dissipate into feathers and then nothing. Arnold felt his headache upon that collision but when he looked at the massive dent on the wall, he realized that he got off far easier than how he should have been.

A massive barrage of ballistics can't make a dent yet his Spirit Phaze actually did something. But his head throbs badly from doing so that he would rather not do it again.

"Arnold!" Alfin said to him as she quickly shields him with the King Tiger from the oncoming firings toward him.

The sounds of bullets clashing against metal cleared his mind up as he watches the gigantic silhouette standing right in front of him. What also strikes him is the sounds of continuous gunfires like a hailstorm splashing into the flood. Pierce is using his chimerized gun while Richard is unleashing his Noble Phantasm onto the oncoming onslaught.

"Reinforcement is coming! Hold your ground!" Pierce said.

Arnold looked around and saw a massive amount of reinforcement units that are just staggering which is about to surround them. Although they don't have to deal with the wall since they were right beneath their blind spot. But no matter how powerful you are, unless you can take them all out in one single fell swoop, those Azure Soldiers would eventually kill them here. He wished that the Chaldean were still around to assist but it was only thanks to them that they got here this far in the first place.

Arnold turned around and saw something, he doesn't know if his eyes are fooling or not but he saw a really small gap that stretches to the top of the wall. At that moment, an idea flashed in his mind but he doesn't know if he should bet on it or not. He looked at the Azure Soldiers that are slowly approaching them and then his fellow allies who are trying their best to avert the situation. And then he looked into Alice, he could tell those eyes are being filled with sorrow, the fear when facing the prospect of losing after she made it this far.

Upon seeing her face, Arnold felt something resonating inside of his heart. He remembered that he felt connected to her during their first meeting but now... he felt all of his uncertainty were swept away in a mere instant. He has to do it, for everyone.

He then stood up straight and with his right hand placed on his chest. He reaches back toward the forgotten armory of his past in an attempt to find a solution to this predicament. And when he found himself there, he searched around the place for anything that could help him. He has the MP18 hanging on the wall but there won't be much use for it when he is fighting a whole army that is hellbent on killing him.

He then noticed something, the journal on his desk. He quickly runs towards it and opens the journal to find that every page is filled with all of them retelling his memory up until his very final moment. He then quickly turning the pages only to stop at the last one. The final page... contains the requiem of his final moment. At that point, he felt something run through his mind as those memories were playing again vividly despite he just read it over. Perhaps... this is the final key to reobtain his Noble Phantasm.

He grabbed the journal with him and quickly make it to the exit. The moment he opened the door, a bright light engulfed him and he just found himself back in reality. However, the journal didn't follow with him but he remembered that requiem clearly.

"Arnold! Do something!" Alfin said to him.

At that moment, Arnold steels his conviction and quickly kneels with one knee on the ground. His right hand placed on his chest as he closed his eyes. His will is clear... He will save them from the jaw of defeat.

_In a forgotten land I lay  
__A lonely soldier with unknown fate  
__Upon my dying words as I pray  
__Tell the words of passing hell  
_

_Relieving all I have been through  
__With the last communion of my soul  
__Rusting bullets with my own tears  
__Relieving all of the sorrows of my own years_

Alfin quickly summoned multiple blazing portals and cannons quickly protruding them as they open fire on the rushing Azure Soldiers as dust clouds are raised and deafening sounds are heard upon each impact.

_Laying low in a blood-filled trench  
__Killing time until my own death  
__On my face I can feel the falling rain  
__Never seeing my friends again  
_

_Within the smoke of mud and lead  
__Smell the fear and the feeling of dread  
__Soon the time the walls fall over  
__Rapid fire and end of us all  
_

Richard yells as he keeps firing his Gatling gun upon any enemy he could see. Each bullet has the power of an artillery barrage concentrated to a single bullet. Brass cartridges falling like rain as the barrels keep spinning.

_Whistles and sounds of gunfires  
__Lifeless bodies hang on barbed wires  
__A battlefield nothing but a bloody grave  
__Be reuniting with the other side soon_

_Many lives of eighteen years  
__Drown in the mud with no more tears  
__A war that nobody wins  
__Killing time is about to begin_

Pierce keeps firing his Chimera's Cry as the barrel became white-hot from the sustaining fire that it is being forced to endure. The ammo counter keeps whirling down as it is eating through ammo like a lawnmower cutting through grass.

_Crucified as if on a cross  
__Lives that never be able to mourn their loss  
__The gears of war forever turning  
__A cycle that can't ever be ceased_

_Swore my vow that I heard the angels cry  
__So this senseless madness can finally end  
__Pray to God that no more will die  
__So they can finally see the truth for themselves_

The sounds of Azure Soldiers' footsteps are getting louder as they still advance despite being faced against a massive storm of ballistics. There is no stopping them at all, they rushing ahead as if they have no concept of fear. It was as if they were rage given physical form.

_As the rain of blood unveil its crimson cloak  
__The sounds of guns can't hide their shame  
__And so I meet my end here  
__On the land of passing hell_

_Dodging shrapnel and barbed wire  
__Running straight into enemy's fire  
__Running blindly as I hold my breath  
__Let out a prayer within a symphony of death_

Only a dozen meters left. They have done the best they could to halt the horde of Azure Soldiers but once again, they aren't Alice. There isn't that much hope for them to fight against the fifth wall through raw power alone. It was almost as if they are about to resign themselves to Fate but Pierce with his magecraft alignment still refuses to give up no matter what. His origin and affinity are what driven him this far and thus he knew the fine line between determination and insanity very well. Pierce gazed back at him to tell Arnold to not give up. With the very depth of his soul, he let out the final verse in his incantation-slash-requiem.

_Seeing their spirits soaring across the wind  
Beyond the horizon and end of the world  
Friends that I have sworn my final vow  
Live, to tell the words..._

_of __Passchendaele..._

Something chilling went through everyone's spine upon the moment Arnold muttered the final verse. It was as if the air froze itself but it isn't the temperature that was dropped but rather... something inside them just falls over. It was as if they have become down to earth and became unsure of themselves upon hearing it.

Soon, fogs started to appear as it quickly robbed everyone of their vision clarity. They lost their sense of distance and can't tell how far is something ahead of them is. The Azure Soldiers that can run across 20 meters in not even a second and yet for some reason, they still haven't reached any of Arnold's allies at all. It was as if the concept of space and distance just completely shattered upon that final verse.

Soon, there is only dead silence remain along with emptiness. Everything's gone, all of the Azure Soldiers, even the fifth wall itself. It was such an emptiness that no words could ever describe.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Absolute Zero**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

**Somewhere in Simo's Reality Marble**

A swift slash rends through the Panzer as it quickly got bisected into two parts immediately. Soon, Simo landed right behind it as it collapsed into the ground.

"Tsk, there are still a lot of them and they are surely more persistent than how I thought.". Simo said as he plunged the ice greatsword into the ground.

The temperature is -270 degrees Celcius, bordering on Absolute Zero. Normally it wouldn't have reached this temperature if it weren't for Anastasia's help which making the temperature dropping far more drastically. At this temperature, anything would have been frozen to the point it would collapse on itself from the sheer cold.

And yet those Azure Soldiers still capable of fighting in such temperature. Although any armored unit would have collapsed on its own internal structure from the sheer cold and thus making requiring them abandoned.

"Watch out!" Anastasia said as she detected something behind her.

Within a blink of an eye, she is already behind a squad of Azure Soldiers and all of them have a bullet hole right in the back of their heads. Simo's gun barrel is smoking as those soldiers then collapsed into azure ashes and became indistinguishable in this blizzard.

What truly taking his time here isn't how hard it is to fight them but rather how far apart each of them is and how he has to search for them to take them down. He could tell that he dragged a lot of Azure Soldiers into this place but he has yet to find all of the main force here.

"By the way, where is this place? I have never seen this much mountain range here at all." Anastasia said.

"Your eyes probably playing tricks with you, there isn't much mountain here in the first place. Just trees and hills stretching as far as I could see. Much like how I remember the Winter War that happened." Simo said as he looked around.

He wanders his gaze around the snowfield as he looks for any more enemies. He could feel that something is approaching him, slowly making its way silently so that it could pounce on him.

He turned his back and saw it on motion right in his very eyes. The King Tiger is about to land right on him as he then calmly flickered out of his way as it plows through the snow.

Soon it came to a stop as he appeared right behind it once more. It stood up and turned around to him with its eyes flashing red at him.

"Tsk... Guess something just still persist in this storm... Fine, I shall take you down personally myself." Simo said as he pointed the Mosin-Nagant towards the King Tiger.

The King Tiger then roared as it aimed the main cannon towards Simo and fired without hesitation, he evaded it with ease but the shell continues to fly past him and then struck into the forest behind him. The explosion was so huge that it destroyed many hectares of forest in one shot. Simo turned around to assess the damage briefly before continue to focus back to his fight against the King Tiger.

He fired a shot to see if the cold temperature actually affected the armor or not in which the bullet bounced off its armor as if it was nothing. Simo, however, noticed the slightest detail when the bullet landed on the King Tiger and saw a really small crack on its armor. Normally it wouldn't even do anything but now, it is actually becoming more brittle due to the extreme cold it is being forced to endure.

Seeing this is their chance, Simo dipped the Mosin Nagant into the snow and just right before the King Tiger unleash its machine guns. He quickly evaded its barrage while keeping the gun dipped in the snow before pulling it out. Soon, the crystalline greatsword is back in their hands once more.

"Let me help you!" Anastasia said as she placed her hands on the greatsword as she enchants the blade.

They have no time for even the smallest brief resting. As long as the King Tiger still there, they won't have any moment to even have an idle banter. Taking down the King Tiger as fast as they could is now a priority above everything.

Simo quickly rushes toward the King Tiger while holding the greatsword one-handed as it skids across the snow. Anastasia meanwhile using Viy to find any possible weakness on the King Tiger. She then noticed the fracturing lines along the body of the King Tiger as it is highlighted in blood red for her.

"Right leg!" Anastasia said to Simo.

The King Tiger then focus fire on Simo as he then flickered away from the King Tiger's sight and appeared right beneath it as he quickly swings the blade as hard as he can with Anastasia's guidance. The greatsword broke in a mere instant upon contact but the armor plating on its right leg got shattered along with the blade itself.

Simo quickly moves away from the King Tiger after landing that attack as he can tell he enraged it after landing such a strike like that. It quickly turned around and then aims its tank cannon right at where Simo is. A shell quickly fired and moves toward him at hypersonic speed as Simo then flickered out of its way immediately. The shell impacted the ground and exploded with more than enough force to make the whole mountainside collapse into a cliff.

Simo appeared right behind it once again as it quickly turned around to fire its armament at him once more. Simo however quickly get out of its sight as he activated his camouflage in order to throw off its tracking vision. With this skill on, even if he stands right in front of it, it will never notice him.

"Deep breathe... Concentrate... The moment I take off for another attack, the camouflage will wear off. Anastasia, where will I have to attack next?" Simo asked as he tried to remain as still as possible.

Anastasia still has Viy activated as she is seeking any weak point on the King Tiger, normally the King Tiger wouldn't have such a thing on it but thanks to the temperature being near Absolute Zero is making its armor more brittle and prone to destruction than it normally is.

"Left leg!" Anastasia said as she pointed out one of its current weak points. There are more of them but the crippling its mobility would help tremendously for them.

Simo then dashes as quickly as he could towards it and the King Tiger quickly aiming its machine guns at them. Even a single bullet of its machine guns would shred a Servant into pieces and thus blocking is out of the question. Anastasia could move fast but not fast enough to evade those machine guns and thus she has to rely on Simo's Agility. Plus, she finds it more comfortable around his back than anything else.

He then flickered his way like a specter and appeared right at the left leg of the King Tiger. Simo quickly slashes the crystalline greatsword as fast as he could before the King Tiger would shred him apart with its armament. Right just at the last moment, he quickly spins around and swings the greatsword as hard as he could with a backhanded strike and shattered both the sword and the left leg's armor.

The King Tiger roared once more as it quickly tried to grab him but he has already flickered away from it the moment he swung the greatsword. It then started to spray its armaments everywhere, thinking that it would at least strike him somehow. Unleashing its cannon and machine guns without haphazardly without caring, thinking that collateral damage would do something but Simo and Anastasia knew better than that.

They appeared behind its back once more and Simo plunged the broken blade into the snow as it quickly repaired itself in a mere instant. The King Tiger turned its back around and quickly unleashes its armaments at Simo the moment it notices him. Simo quickly moves while not even showing signs of motion as if he was just a mirage.

Simo then rushes forward and then makes a focused thrust right into the knee of the King Tiger and then pulled the hilt of the blade out which is the Mosin-Nagant that he used. With a sudden obstacle in its mechanism, the King Tiger became unable to function properly as the crystalline edge still stuck in it thus making it unable to move its leg properly.

"NOW! Mirage Edge!" Both of them said at the same time as they changed their stance into the back left.

Suddenly, as if they have moved with such speed that it is unbelievable, they created afterimages of themselves lining up behind them while each of them is holding the greatsword in each different stances. And as if the planets aligned, all of those afterimages attacks right at one same time with such synchronization that they overlapped upon each other with each somehow managed to inflict physical effect despite being afterimages.

And the real one is the one doing back left as they quickly pulled an upward slash that pulled both of them into the sky and they soon landed on the snowy ground right after that attack. With the combination of Simo's unparalleled Agility and Anastasia's mystical power, this is something that can only be done with their combined power.

The power of that attack shattered the entire armor hull of the King Tiger and completely destroyed its armament, leaving open its internal mechanism, the engine, hydraulic presses, anything really but one thing that struck them is the azure fume that is leaking from the damage they inflicted. They don't know what it is but they would rather not pushing their lucks.

The King Tiger suddenly roared and quickly stood up and charging madly towards them. They noticed that the engine started to have lights breaching out of it and that is when they realized one thing.

"Watch out! It is going to self-destruct!" Simo said as he quickly steps back.

And before it could reach them, Anastasia chanted something and soon the ground ahead of them cracked open and the King Tiger then fell right into it. Soon it crashed into the bottom of the ravine and then exploded with a force that is enough to shake the ground that they are standing on. But other than that, things seem to be fine now.

"What did you just do?" Simo asked as he finds what just happened.

"It just a Noble Phantasm that I used to do mischievous 'pranks'. Normally like making a crack on the road or a pebble on the way, I can't crank it up to deal actual bloodshed but this here is a special circumstance. The King Tiger's weight can't support its own on the broken ground like this and thus I just simply crack open a small crack on the surface and I just happened to strike right into the weak spot that would create a ravine like this." Anastasia said with a smile on her face.

"Yeah... Just happened..." Simo said sarcastically as he finds it unbelievable to even believe in what Anastasia said.

Things seem fine now but Simo felt something... Something that he can't shake his mind off, like something, is waiting for him to let down his guard and then kills him swiftly.

He flickered away and just right at that moment, a blade almost decapitate both of them together. Simo appeared right in front of it and saw that his suspicion is confirmed. The fact that the King Tiger is set to self-destruct and the fact that he didn't see anything eject from it tells the whole story to him.

"Grand Cross... If it weren't for the fact that this isn't the first time I have experience with this kind of monstrosity taking shape of a human, I would have died long ago. Good to know that my judgment wasn't wrong." Simo muttered to himself as he raised the greatsword at the Grand Cross right in front of him.

The Grand Cross closing on him first as it tried to kill him as swiftly as possible. Simo blocked the attack but the greatsword in his hand shattered immediately against the Grand Cross's attack and thus he quickly flickered away from it to avoid getting hit. He knew a Grand Cross's strength is terrifying in itself but he would never fathom to even have a close look at it at all or should he receive it at all.

He quickly appeared a distance away from its back and activate his camouflage to buy more time for him. Quickly dipping his broken blade into the snow, the greatsword itself is fixed in a mere instant but what use does a weapon has if it broke upon the first contact?

"Simo, let me help you with this one.". Anastasia said as she placed her hands on the greatsword.

Soon, the color of the ice crystalline greatsword turned from light blue into deep azure. He could feel the cold emanating from it despite the surrounding is already near Absolute Zero. Just one touch and you will instantly be frozen and collapse from the sheer brittleness you have become. If everything else is just a normal sunny day, this thing is a frozen apocalypse.

"Just be careful, if you broke it, there will be no fixing it.". Anastasia said before she got cut off immediately

The Grand Cross managed to notice him and quickly zero in to slash him. Simo raised his guard with the greatsword and the unbelievable happened. The greatsword is actually able to block the Grand Cross's attack. The sheer cold of the greatsword then started to spread into the Grand Cross's saber as the blade in its hand shattered when it tried to force the blade on him. Even the fragments felt like it could pierce through him as he tried to find a perfect moment to fall back.

The moment the saber was rendered useless, the Grand Cross tried to grab him by his neck. Never once he felt such intense rage and hostility at such a close quarter like this. Not even Berserker Class Servants would have this kind of rage building up like this. Simo quickly disengages and flickers away from the Grand Cross as fast as possible.

Reappeared right at the back of the thing a bit distance away from it, Simo reaffirms his stance so that he can combat against the Grand Cross more properly. Like at the next moment, the Grand Cross charges toward him with the speed that snow soars apart with the sonic barrier broken the mere instant. Simo and Anastasia's minds quickly synchronized as their bodies acted immediately on their own before they could process anything.

_"Counterstance!" _Their minds thought as they quickly attack right at the opening on the Grand Cross's body that is highlighted with blood-red thanks to Viy's ability.

And by some miracles, they sustained no damage from it during the whole process of doing so when they blitz through the Grand Cross with one swift attack. And then an ice blast occurred right when the Grand Cross is behind them.

"Anastasia? You used an ice spell on it, right?" Simo asked.

She nodded which honestly surprises Simo that she has such high-reflex despite not being much combat oriented like him.

"This isn't over yet! Keep focus!" Anastasia said as Simo quickly spins around and swung his blade right at the Grand Cross which just lunged at him.

"Keep the pressure up! Don't let it reaffirm its stance!" Simo said as he swung the greatsword repeatedly at the Grand Cross with such fluid movements that no momentum is wasted.

Anastasia assists by using applying ice spell on every basic attack that Simo does so that the damage inflicted will be enhanced compare to normally although the blade itself is already capable of freezing anything upon contact.

Suddenly, the Grand Cross grabbed the greatsword by its blade and toss both of them away along with the greatsword. Both of them quickly landed on their feet but the greatsword is a distance away from them after that throw. The Grand Cross then started to lunge towards them like a mad dog.

Simo quickly turned around to check where the greatsword landed but that Grand Cross is going to tear them apart if he wasted any more seconds standing around here. Anastasia tried to at least stall for even a few more seconds by summoning multiple walls of ice that stood on the Grand Cross's way. Its rage completely blinded it of any reasoning as it smashes through the walls of ice despite it could easily go around it.

Simo quickly saw the hazy image of the greatsword within the blizzard as he quickly flickered towards it and grabbed it just right in time as he blocked the Grand Cross's attack with it which pushed both Simo and Ana off the hill.

They landed once again as the Grand Cross pursued them. Taking the initiative, both Simo and Ana quickly spin around and pushes their power into the next attack which created a shockwave. However, Anastasia's power and the blade's property turned that shockwave into three crystal edges that are rushing towards the Grand Cross while leaving traces of icicles behind them.

The Grand Cross thinks that it could just destroy whatever is in its path but the crystal edges that are rushing towards it aren't like the ice walls. The moment the Grand Cross smashes the crystal edges in one fell swoop, the remaining energy quickly discharged into an extreme cold that instantly ensnared the Grand Cross into encased in ice.

Anastasia quickly drops from Simo's back and quickly grabbed the greatsword and getting into sword fighting stance once more with Simo. They did this once already when fighting Larry so there isn't going to be anything surprising about it to them anymore.

"Let's dance, asshole!" Simo said as he and Anastasia quickly rush towards the encased Grand Cross with all their might.

They together rush in with a focused thrust as they quickly spin around and wind up their momentum. Right when the time is in their favor, they together jumped and quickly pulled an overhead strike right into the Grand Cross with all of their strength behind. That attack shattered the ice that encased the Grand Cross and successfully staggered it into a dazed state.

"Final blow! Zero Ascension!" Both Simo and Ana said as they quickly charge toward the Grand Cross while both of them together wielding the greatsword.

They together in unison as they quickly slash the Grand Cross repeatedly in perfect momentum that no amount of movements were wasted. And right in that final blow, they use both of their strength and thrust the Grand Cross right into the crotch area and they quickly position themselves for the finishing blow. Anastasia then summoned an ice pale right below them as the force pushes them up into the sky while they are still holding onto the greatsword. The pale then shattered upon itself the moment it accomplishes what he supposed to do.

The result, the Grand Cross got bisected into half as the corpse then falls into the snow as they then ignited into an azure blaze. Simo and Ana then landed on the ground and they watch as the blaze unfolding right in front of them. Not even Absolute Zero could extinguish away that flame of hatred.

"At least we are no longer have to deal with something like this anymore. After taking on such a monstrosity like this, anything else is just pale in comparison." Simo said as he shrugs.

He keeps staring at the blaze in front of him until Anastasia nudges him to grab his attention. Simo turned around and saw what Anastasia is telling him.

"Huh? No wonder we didn't find much of them on our way." Simo said as he finds it unsurprising in the slightest.

Turns out, Azure Soldiers do have the slightest trace of intelligence but most of the time they are completely clouded by the sheer feral rage they display all the time. They have regrouped with each other and now a massive army that was dragged by him into his Reality Marble is about to charge towards him.

"You know what, Anastasia? How about we finish this whole ordeal for once and for all?" Simo said to her.

She nodded just as the army of Azure Soldiers in front of them charges toward him like a herd of enraged bulls. Simo then gives her a hand as he quickly crouches and then Anastasia runs toward him and then leaped into his hands which he placed them together as he then pushed her high up into the heaven above. The Azure Soldiers opened fire on him in which he then simply flickered away from them after he gives Anastasia the boost she needed.

Anastasia when she pierced into the cloudy sky above her, she then quickly summoned her familiar, Viy. She started to levitate in the air as she keeps mumbles its name repeatedly to the point that one would mistake it for borderline psychotic obsession.

_Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy __Viy _

The foggy familiar behind her started to having its eyes flashing as she keeps citing its name. It then created two prisms of absolute zero ice as Anastasia then opened her eyes and threw them down towards the Azure Soldiers below her. The soldiers keep trying to shoot her down but none of those bullets managed to even reach the altitude she is in right now.

The two prisms then collided into the ground as they then burst right at one same time. Right at the next moment, the place that the Azure Soldiers just stood on is now a massive ice crystal, one that is so high that it pierces heaven itself. The thing is that unless somebody stood far away, none will understand just how large that ice crystal she just created.

The whole mountainside as wide as dozens of kilometers in radius is completely encased in ice and its height reaching high enough to have modern fighter jet to crash into it.

Simo appeared again with the distance he is away from it is about more than a hundred kilometers. With his Mosin prepared, he will activate his Noble Phantasm, separately from the greatsword that he and Anastasia used together. If he really wanted to kill the Chaldeans back then, he would have used his Noble Phantasm while they were unaware of it. But now this is a whole different story, the one that is a secret but to him and Anastasia.

The sky darkens as everything started to turn into nights. The wind howls as the blizzard became even stronger. Soon, darkness engulfed the whole place as the only thing they can sense here is just raw and bitter coldness that pierce through their flesh and bones.

An azure flash appeared within the darkness. Simo's right eye is flashing as if set ablaze, he looked down upon the ironsight of his rifle as he aims true at one singular target. He doesn't even need a scope or anything like that. That's just how good he is.

He pulled the trigger and a bullet was fired. It moved with an unreal speed that breaks the sound barrier the moment it leaves the muzzle. However, the bullet disappeared before it could make any real distance.

No... It disappeared not because of anyone's intervention. Simo deliberately let it like that because it is also a part of his Noble Phantasm.

In the next instant, a deafening sound of something shattering occurred. The massive ice crystal that its size reached heaven just shattered like that along with anything that was encased inside it. One hundred kilometers were cut down like that in just an instant.

The thing is... It doesn't matter what his enemy is. It doesn't matter what is on its way. It doesn't matter what the environment would do to it. That's what his Noble Phantasm does, it warps the bullet straight into his target, completely ignoring the distance between him and his target. He could choose where his bullet will reappear in its line of fire, it could be a few meters in front of his enemies, or literally right at between their eyes, or... right inside their head. It doesn't matter who they are, death awaits them.

Soon, the darkness cleared up as it soon revealed the aftermath of Simo's Noble Phantasm. Ice fragments all large and small chunks scattered across the field but he could tell that there is no longer any trace of Azure Soldiers left. He looked up at the cloudy sky and saw Anastasia slowly descending from the sky gracefully as if she is an angel. Well, she fits the description of one if he has anything to say.

Simo sighed and then flickered right to the area below her. He then put all of his strength into his feet as he jumped towards her. The moment he reached her, he quickly caught her in his grasp as Simo then bridal carrying her as they together fall toward the ground. They soon landed on the snowy white field although the blizzard still raging on.

"Guess that we managed to fulfill our roles, hope that the others are able to make it." Simo said to Anastasia.

Needless to say that they have their own 'personal' time with each other in this world.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Twin Unlimited Blade Works**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

The dusty miasma covered the atmosphere as they quickly enter their Reality Marble. With the combination of their power and this is their first time doing so, they have no idea how things will go despite already knowing the basics and theoretical gist of it. According to many Casters, they theorized that if the siblings were to combine their power, the Reality Marble's property will change to fit both of its users.

"So this is it... The power of the siblings." Gudao said as he stood around in the middle of nothingness surrounded by this dusty miasma.

Soon, the atmosphere cleared up and he started to see the Reality Marble clearly with his own eyes.

It was a starry night with two moons hanging from above, he could see the faint trace of the gears in the background but the stars outshone all of them. Blades, lances, spears... everything... They are plunged into the ground as if they were memorials belonged to their respective heroes. All of them are still in pristine condition as if they just recently placed here as they left their mark in this world.

This world is a memorial in itself, a tribute to all of the heroes who put their life on the line for humanity's survival.

Suddenly, a spear nearby him started to pull itself out of the ground, and then a figure started to materialize nearby it. He noticed that spear, there was no mistaking its red color. It was the Gae Bolg that belonged to Cu Chulainn.

It was just a shadow Servant which bears the only similarity in appearance. But he could tell that Shadow Servant is acting pretty well for a pale imitation as it quickly charges toward the group of Azure Soldiers that it detected and slaughtered all of them with a single whirl of its spear.

"Right, can't forget that I'm not the only here in this Reality Marble.". Gudao said as he quickly tried to search for the high ground so he can have a much better vision of what is going on.

He reached for the top of the hill and saw the whole battle unfolding right in front of him. Weapons of all kinds from common and mundane to the legendary and mythical scattered among each other in this graveyard. The twin is fighting against a massive army of Azure Soldiers which has encircled them. However, they aren't losing at all, they are in fact holding their ground significantly better than before.

Both of them quickly summoned the swords surrounding them in their world and raining them down upon their enemy as Shadow Servants started to form and take arms against the Azure Soldiers. Due to the limitation of their nature, they can't use skills or Noble Phantasm, they just attack anything that they were commanded to by Shirou and Kuro. Even one Shadow Servants could hold their own as long as they don't get overwhelmed by the sheer number.

And away from the center of the ongoing conflict are Kiritsugu and Iri who are trying to stave off the Azure Soldiers and reducing the intensity of the center conflict by aggroing the force away from their children. Kiritsugu swinging the Natalia as he severs through the enemy like a hot knife through butter as Iri heals off any injury both he and she sustained.

Shadow Servants, that seems to be the difference compared to the normal UBW but if he thought it would be just that until Shirou said something.

_Oath of Enma_

Suddenly, the katana from beside him root itself up and flew towards the conflict that is going on. A figure formed nearby it and quickly took hold of it. A Shadow Servant, he knew that much already but something unexpected happened. Color started to flooding in and soon, that Shadow Servant became a full-fledge Servant as if they were summoned to this place directly.

Benienma, the Tongue-Cut Sparrow. She is part of the Chaldean Culinary Team which Shirou is also holding a major position in. A proactive introvert, lazy yet dedicating. She is a bit more of a swordswoman than a young girl despite her own appearance of one. She is earnest and respectful towards everyone, no matter whom she is talking to. Despite having the air of a fair and cool-headed judge, she is a deeply loyal sparrow and will always hold dear all of the favors of the others done for her.

She quickly turned into a sparrow and flew through the horde of Azure Soldiers and gone undetected through them. In the next second, the Azure Soldiers that were on her path were diced into pieces as they collapse into azure ashes. That sparrow then flies to his position and then returns to her original form.

"Hey Master, dechi... I didn't think I would get here at all. This is that Red Archer's Reality Marble, right? But I don't remember it being the night sky with two moons hanging above with stars flashing like this..." Benienma said to her Master.

"Wait... You know me!? I thought this world and the Shadow Border is separated! I mean you were summoned independently from the FATE summoning system yet actually keeping the memory!?" Gudao said in surprise.

"What are you talking about? Did your lack of nutrients finally got into your mind? I am that same Benienma cooking meals for you along with many other Servants! How could you forget me like that!" Benienma said as she pouts while angrily said.

This is a revelation that Gudao didn't even remotely expect. The Servants summoned here actually keeps their memory of their times in Chaldea, or rather... they were summoned directly from Chaldea!

"Enma! How did you even get here?!" Gudao asked as he shook her by the shoulder.

"How would I know!? All I know is that I was cooking dinner for the Servants and then I suddenly felt drowsy and before I realized it, I just collapsed into the ground and slept like a brick. And the next second, I find myself holding my own sword and flying towards the enemy!" Benienma said to her Master.

This... has turned into a complicated situation. He doesn't know what is going on anymore, things just seem to become more outlandish over time as he spent more in this Reality Marble. He knew that if both the sibling combine their power, it would become stronger but never would he thought that they could do this at all.

"Master! Watch out!" Benienma tried to warn her Master of an ambush but she couldn't react in time.

"Huh?" Gudao said as he turned around and saw a Tiger about to jump at him from the back.

However, he never needs to fear in the first place as the Tiger is immediately destroyed by a cleaving slash of azure flame.

"Dost thou need my help, contractor?" An old intimidating voice said to Gudao.

A large figure wearing a religious hood and wearing a skull mask on his face, the azure flame can be seen in his eyes as staring straight into is to look into the void itself. That old man is the personification of death as his presence reeks doom to anything that he deems to be exterminated. That old man is the Old Man of the Mountain or how Gudao called him as King Hassan

"King Hassan!" Gudao said in surprise to see him here right now.

"It seems that there was no need for an explanation. I shall heed whatever thou ask, contractor." King Hassan said as he focused his gaze and an approaching Tiger got burnt to crisp from the fire pillar erupting right from beneath its feet.

Realizing the control that Shirou and Kuro have over the Twin Unlimited Blade Works, the potential is limitless when it comes to them, to turn a Shadow Servant into actual one is already unbelievable in itself but the fact that they managed to turn this world into the only gateway for the Chaldeans to take action is even more commendable.

Gudao decided to bet his one of his Command Seals to bolster the power of this place, there can't be anything wrong for being too cautious but Benienma placed her hand on Gudao's then shaking her head, telling that there is no need to do so in the first place.

He watched as more and more Servants started to show up, it was such an ultimate battle of grand proportions. Napoleon appeared with his massive-ass cannon as he laid bombardment upon the horde of concentrated Azure Soldiers. Sigurd and Brynhildr appeared as they together cleave through the enemy's force singlehandedly with overwhelming power. Even if facing against armored units, the Primodarial Runes they have easily make short works of all of them.

"Thou art a Dragon!" Saint George said as he activates his Noble Phantasm and directs it to the King Tiger and turned it into technically a 'dragon'. However, this is a perfect setup for the Dragon Slaying Trio. Sigurd, Siegfried, and Sieg.

Sigurd then quickly punches dozens of shortsword within his possession and then punches Gram towards it with all of his might. Siegfried prepared his stance as he activates Balmung and light blue aura started to emanate from it. Sieg then activates his Noble Phantasm as he slowly levitates up into the air and he quickly engulfed by a bright light that flashes from his chest as he quickly transformed into Fafnir, the dragon that Sigurd and Siegfried slew in their respective legends.

The shortswords cleave through the Azure Soldiers in its path then collides with the King Tiger, Siegfried then thrusts his Balmung as the aura turned into a massive blast that obliterates anything its path, Sieg then breathes fire down upon the enemy below as the flame incinerates anything as it quickly rushes toward the King Tiger which is being immobilized by the rune that Sigurd inscribed on those shortswords. Gram then pierced into it as Sigurd zero in as he put all of his strength into his punching fist.

And right at that moment, the three forces collided and caused a massive blast that created a pillar of discharging energy soaring up to the sky. To have three Servants using their Noble Phantasm at the same time sounds extremely wasteful and overkill but when it comes to Azure Soldiers, there is no such thing called overkill.

Artoria quickly skirmishes the battlefield as she rode on the back of her trusty Dun Stallion as she takes down any Azure Soldiers that was on her way with the Rhongomaniad, it seems that she didn't expect herself to get into this world at all but she doing well for someone who got thrown unexpectedly here.

"Sis! Are you alright?" A familiar voice said to her.

Arthur approaches her as he made his way, it seems that he took control of himself while he is about to get overwhelmed by a bunch of Tigers when he came about and thus seems to be in the worse for wear but still fine nonetheless.

"Said the person who is having bruises across the body but yeah... I am fine." Artoria said to her 'brother'.

Bullets started to fly towards them as they quickly took cover, even when many Servants were gotten here, the amount of enemy is still too staggering that he felt really weirded out despite facing much larger armies in Lostbelts.

The Dun Stallion started to panic as more ballistics started to land nearby it, Artoria quickly calmed it down before it would act rashly in panic. At that moment, she decided that it is better to have it hid away for now. Horses got outstripped from the modern battlefield for a reason, you know.

"You know the rule and so do I.". Arthur said.

Artoria nodded as she quickly draws her Excalibur out and so does Arthur with his, they together looking at a large battalion of Azure Soldiers charging down this path as they were standing on its way.

Arthur then unbinds his seals from the sword while Artoria is simply charging her mana into it. Soon, their swords illuminated brightly as they bask everything surrounding them with that royal light of them. They then change into their appropriate stances while the enemy in front of them is rushing in like a horde of feral hounds. Even when facing such adversary, they still remain steadfast no matter what.

When that moment comes, they together swing their swords at one same time.

_"Ex-" Arthur said as he prepared to time his swinging moment._

_"-cal-" Artoria said as she follows up._

_"-li-" Arthur said as the moment is coming for both of them._

**_"-bur!"_**Both of them yelled at one same time as they together used their Noble Phantasm.

A beam of light came forth from each of their swords. Two beams of pure light intertwine around each other as it quickly rushes toward the battalion of Azure Soldiers that are charging mindlessly towards their death. The two beams blast through them as they obliterate anything in their path, even the King Tigers that were among them.

The two beams then fused with each other then quickly discharged into two pillars of pure light that is visible across this Reality Marble. They did this together once but never would they lost that fascination they have when doing so.

Meanwhile, Illya is raining down bombardments of prana beams with her Mystic Codes in the air as she is doing everything in her capability to assist everyone in the best way she could do. However, air superiority doesn't matter that much to those Azure Soldiers as they could somehow still accurately firing at her.

Suddenly, she saw something strange down beneath her is happening. The frozen trail of something as it is moving through the Azure Soldiers if she could make it out correctly. She then realized that there is only one person who fits that bill in which she knows. Sitonai...

Illya then dives down right back at the ground and landed right at where the epicenter of the freezing and her intuition was once again confirmed. It is indeed Sitonai, she is fending herself against a huge group of Azure Soldiers that is surrounding her just now. Her polar bear named Shirou is also fighting alongside her as it claws through them effortlessly as if they were paper against scissors.

"Sitonee-chan!" Illya said as she tried to get her elder sister's attention.

Sitonai turned around and see her sister but quickly turn her attention back to the fight that is unfolding around her right now. Illya realized that it is also a bad time to even distract her sister like that and thus quickly assisting her in the fight against the enemy around them.

"Sitonee-chan, how did you get here? I thought that we can't summon you in because of the EKS but here you are, fighting alongside us while still at full power like this." Illya said to her sister.

"Don't ask me as if I am the only mythic Servant here! Are you blind or what if you can't even notice the chaos unfolding right now!?" Sitonai said to her sister as she cleaves an Azure Soldier with her sword.

A Panzer quickly got close to them as it is about to swipe both of the sisters. However, it is immediately scrapped by another force that it didn't detect. A crimson hue lingers around its wreckage as both the sisters look at what just happened just now.

"Miss me?" Miyu said to her sisters as she is wearing a magical girl outfit, just like Illya. The difference here is that her outfit is sapphire blue while Illya's is pink ruby.

"Miyu!" Illya said as it has been very long since the last time she saw her.

"So this is our battle, huh? Been a long while since we ever get to fight alongside each other like this." Miyu said as she readied her Mystic Code.

"Yeah, been a long while too.". Illya said as she also readied her Mystic Code.

They together get into position and then quickly jump into action. Sitonai along with her polar bear quickly mowing down the infantry units on their way, while Miyu takes down the armored unit with the Gae Bolg that she has from the Class Card.

"Lancer! Include!" Miyu said as the Gae Bolg appeared in her hand the moment she said them.

She then applied the causality reversal effect as she let the spear loose automatically the moment she finished the incantation. The spear does the rest of the job as it moved by itself and impaled the Tiger and pierced through the heart of its operator immediately. The force also tore the Tiger apart as it turned into a heap of scrap immediately in the aftermath and the thing is, Miyu didn't even need to spend that much mana for something like that.

However, she knew that this isn't the last of them yet and she quickly switches out to her Mystic Code, Sapphire. She swings the Mystic Code as it quickly created multiple prana shockwaves as they cleave through the Azure Soldiers. Illya assists her by also using her Mystic Code and try to fend away as many of them possible.

Sitonai meanwhile riding on her polar bear and using her bow to shot down as many of those Azure Soldiers as she could while evading the torrents of ballistics with such reflex that is not even humanely possible. A Tiger about to aim its cannon right at her but Sitonai acted faster than it and she quickly maximum draw her bow as the bolt quickly become saturated with her power.

Even before it could fire its cannon, Sitonai let loose the arrow and it quickly punctured through the Tiger and an icicle quickly rose up and then impaled it as it lifts the Tiger into the sky. Sitonai quickly commanded her bear to climb the icicle as she draws her sword and quickly put all of her might into the finishing slash which split the whole Tiger into half. The Chaldean team was struggling to put up a good fight against it and here Sitonai just finished it off effortlessly like that. Having divine power surely is such an advantage that hardly that many Servants could measure up.

"Who wants some!?" Sitonai said as she cavalry charges toward the battalion of Azure Soldiers as she quickly eliminates them where they stand.

And back to the magical duo, their dance of ruby and sapphire is proven to be such a massive synergy that none of those Azure Soldiers managed to put up a good fight that lasts even longer than a second against them. However, that doesn't mean they are indomitable. The moment this dance of their ends, the Azure Soldiers will counterattack immediately. They can't keep up this dance without straining their minds greatly as they felt the stamina inside draining away with each time they swing their wands at their enemy.

"Miyu... I can't keep this up..." Illya said tiredly as she tried to keep the show going.

"We can't give up yet, somebody must be coming to help us..." Miyu said as she tried to suppress the lethargic feelings swelling up inside her mind.

With their stamina reserve drained, they couldn't keep thinking straight and their surrounding awareness dropped to the point that even a Panzer could sneak upon them. Just as it about to hit both Illya and Miyu, a saving grace has occurred to them at that last moment when a blast of concentrated energy wrecked that Panzer immediately.

They turned around and saw a familiar figure that they can realize who that person is with a simple gaze alone.

"Good grief... Thank the heaven that I made it here in time." Waver said as she takes a smoke of his cigar while suddenly being in the spotlight after what he just did.

The enemy open fires on him but with his Mystic Code on, he evaded all of them while still calmly smoking on his cigar while retaliating at the same time. He takes out his tactician feather fan and proceeds to swing it at his enemy. The moment he did so, a large gale blown all of them in one fell swoop as he quickly clears up the enemy units around him.

His discerning gaze fell upon his enemy as he analytically planning out his way to clear up the entire regiment by himself alone. It will be proven difficult but not impossible. He then situates himself as if he just sits on an invisible chair as multiple yin-yang sigil plates appeared around him as he quickly unleashes multiple energy beams from them as they quickly shredding through those Azure Soldiers.

"Still too many, it would take forever if it keeps going like this. I won't die but it will take too long to be efficient. I need a way to somehow that I could-" Waver thought before he was suddenly cut off when he realized a shadow is appearing right at his position. He looked up at the sky and then quickly getting on his feet immediately as a massive sword the size of a tower just landed right at his position.

He knew what it was, it was that same sword back then when Shirou and Kuro used to make a bridge that would cross the ravine during their journey. The Ig Alima, it mostly just a hollow blade considering its property but it will still prove to be devastating in the right hand.

"Miyu! I have an idea but you may not like it!" Illya said as she looked at the massive sword.

"Anything is better than keeping up this dance!" Miyu said tiredly as vapors rise up from her sweaty body.

Both of them quickly flew towards the handle of the Ig Alima and took hold of it. The sisters quickly tried to pull the massive sword out of the ground in which it may appear impossible but Servants' power is often deceiving that one would hardly believe their capability.

The sisters managed to uproot the blade out of the ground as they quickly performed an overhead swing with it down towards the enemy below. In the next second, the sword impacted the ground and caused a huge tremor in the process.

"Girls! Watch where you are swinging!" Waver said to them as he tried to warn them of their own recklessness.

"Sorry!" Illya said to the tactician right below them at the ground.

The sisters then landed on the ground, still holding on to the gigantic sword. They together yelled in unison as they swing the massive sword in an arc-shaped path and Waver just happened to be in its way. However, he calmly backflips over it just when it about to reach him. Everything else though gets splattered immediately by it like a fly swatter striking its target. The splattered body parts scattered across the starry sky as they then turning into azure ashes as if they were stardust.

And just like that, they decimated the Azure Soldiers around them although the same could probably be said to the Ig Alima as it broke on their last swing. At least it fulfilled its duty to the very end.

"At least we're safe although I am so tired that I couldn't even stand properly.". Illya said as she is shaking pretty bad that she could just fall over at any second.

"Take a good rest because you will need it although I didn't believe that you could just swing such a huge sword like that. Even if it is just a hollow blade" Waver said as he just finds it unbelievable at what just unfolded in front of him before.

"To be fair though, Onii-chan and Kuro did trace them and place them really easily because it is a hollow blade. If it was at its true form, it would have been a different story." Miyu said.

Suddenly, she remembered why she even came to Illya, to begin with. She then tried to stand straight without shaking as she hands over her Mystic Code to Illya.

"Illya, you will need this more than me. I can fare well enough without it but the hurdle ahead of you will be tremendously impossible without this." Miyu said as she hands over Sapphire to Illya.

"Wuh? Wait... I can't take this from you!" Illya said as she said in panic when Miyu is willing to hand over one of the most important items to her.

"Sigh... Alice... You forgot about that already?" Waver said to Illya as he reminds her about the biggest predicament they are in right now.

"Oh, right..." Illya said as she realized the duty that she has to fulfill and then begrudgingly accept Miyu's transfer of Sapphire to her.

"Don't worry. Even without Sapphire, I can still use the Class Card to my advantage and thus I am far from being powerless. But you on the other hand will be facing a much greater threat than how Chaldean used to deal with. Even more than the Beasts themselves... This is the only way I could help you..." Miyu said with a determined look in her eyes.

Illya tried to suppress the tears from flowing as she quickly accepting the Mystic Code that Miyu has given to her.

"I recommend you to catch up with Shirou and Kuro, considering how many of those Azure Soldiers they dragged into here. They will be needing the majority of the Emiya family members and the only exclusion I could make is Sitonai and Miyu. So do your job because this will determine whether or not we will make it through." Waver said as he emphasized the importance of Illya's duty.

Illya nodded as she quickly flew away, leaving Waver and Miyu behind as they stand on this mass memorial.

"Oh god, I forgot. Sitonai! I'm coming!" Miyu suddenly realized as she then quickly used the Class Card and transformed into the Heroic Spirit written into the card.

_Lancer! Install!_

In a flash, she transformed... Although not exactly into the precise Heroic Spirit but rather donning in their clothes which is stylized for the user and give them the power of said Heroic Spirit. Her is Cu Chulainn as she wears a rather revealing spandex suit. She then moves toward where Sitonai is with a speed that easily makes Waver eats dust.

"Sigh... Such sisterly bonds, aren't they?" A feminine voice said from behind Waver.

Feeling an overwhelming power behind him but he doesn't display anything that is remotely called fear because he is in fact already aware who it is.

"Nice to see you here... Void Shiki..." Waver said unamusedly as he lights up another cigar.

"Hmm... It seems that we are finally getting closer to the ultimate truth, aren't we?" Void Shiki said with a smirk in her face, to have her display any emotion other than the deadpan expression is a challenge that not even many heroes would dare to do.

"Said the omnipotent god who is willfully lazy, I bet that you foresaw all of this happening, right?" Waver said as he smokes on his cigar.

"You may be right or maybe not. But if there is anything I regret during this event that is happening right now, it just that I have to stay out of the possible the only fair fight I ever get in my existence." Void Shiki said as she closed her eyes and feeling the wind blows across the memorials.

"Sike... And here I thought you have something else to say but the fact that you said it is a fair fight for you definitely not making me more relaxed here." Waver said as he tried to shun those thoughts away.

Waver turned around suddenly as if his instinct is telling him something but there is just only Void Shiki standing there. It's strange, he always feels like being observed but most of those times, they were too faint to tell but during this whole operation in this WW2 Singularity, he felt like someone is watching his every step with great scrutiny even if there is nothing around him.

"So you noticed it too." Void Shiki said calmly even though there is this nagging feeling linger around them.

"What?" Waver felt too starkly shocked that he couldn't believe that Void Shiki is confirming that there is indeed something that is watching over them.

"Let me tell you though, this observer has been watching over us ever since the beginning of Chaldea itself. Back to its first day when our Master is still an inexperienced greenhorn." Void Shiki said as she summing up the story so far.

Waver hears attentively to what Void Shiki has to say. The fact that there is something spying on them since the beginning is really worrying.

"Don't worry though... The gaze that befalls on our Master isn't of ill-intent, malice, cunning, or anything like that but rather of someone who is really invested in him. To go through massive lengths to ensure his safety. Their invisible hands are what has shielded him from so many situations that would have otherwise killed him prior to this point." Void Shiki said.

"I don't know... That sounds like you to me..." Waver said with a bit of doubt.

"Of course... It isn't me but rather someone whose power has the same origin as me... Their power... is directly connected to the Root..." Void Shiki said with a bit more serious expression because this is involving someone who was just like her.

"Dear...fucking...lord..." Waver said as the scope of the situation suddenly got enlarged to the point that it is unbelievable.

What will they do with this newly earned knowledge? But Waver felt extremely tense to the point that he tried to find any way to wrap it over his mind but up to no avail while Void Shiki is still standing there looking up to the two moons hanging above her.

"Fate... must have driven us here..." Void Shiki said while her attention was captivated by the moons.

Meanwhile, Illya is still flying through the night sky while below her is a raging battle between the Chaldean Servants and the Azure Soldiers. The amount of power used and the destruction level is something she has never seen before. She would think that the Reality Marble would give away before this battle would end and she just realized what would happen to all those who were summoned here?

Illya wanted to think about it but she decided to shun those thoughts away. She needs to get back to her family as fast as she could. If there is anywhere she knows she could head to, it would be the hill where Shirou placed the weapons of those whom he believed and trusted on that hill of swords. It is really hard to even miss that mountain in the first place because it is the only landmark in this world.

Suddenly, she felt something isn't right as she looked up and saw a hail of swords about to rain down on her. She quickly evaded out of its way but she felt rather shaken by the sudden attack like that. However, she noticed that she wasn't its intended target but rather she was just standing in its way down below. She just knew that the only one capable of doing so in this world is just her brother and there is no way that he would harm her deliberately.

Quickly weaving her way to the Hill of Swords, she then found all of her family members standing on top of it. It seems that they were waiting for her although how? That she doesn't know.

"Illya! Thank the heaven that you're still alright!" Shirou quickly embraces her tightly as he could just right when she got near them.

"Onii-chan... At least look where you sending out those swords... You just almost hit me with them." Illya said unamusedly.

"Either way... You said that you found a way to end this whole fight decisively, right?" Kiritsugu asked his son.

"Whether it could end them all or not... That I don't know but I know for sure that this will wipe out nearly all of them and the Chaldeans will exterminate them on spot. I honestly don't know how many of them I dragged here exactly but I could tell that this will swiftly clear all of them out." Shirou said.

"So what do we do to activate what you said?" Kuro asked.

"Honestly, that depends but I guess that is whatever makes us bind together in the first place.". Shirou said with a smile on his face.

"That's just too cryptic to follow.". Iri said as she doesn't quite follow what Shirou meant.

_**Words of God:**__** For this part, play Fate/stay night - Last Stardust**_

Shirou then raised his right hand to the sky just like what he does when he summoned a whole barrage of swords to rain down upon his enemy but this time there is nothing. Everyone else is just looking at him wonder what they have to do exactly. Kiritsugu steps forward and then placed his hand on Shirou's shoulder. And when he did so, a star in the sky flashed as something just seems to fire out of it.

That flash of light then quickly rushes toward the ground as the moment it collides with the ground. It blew up into a massive energy blast that obliterates all of the Azure Soldiers in its area of effect. The Servants who just witness that blast were left dumbfounded by what just happened just now.

"Teach... What just happened?" Achille said as he stopped suddenly when that energy blast occurred.

"I don't know... But considering that it flashes from the star. I presume it must be something like my Noble Phantasm but that is stretching it..." Chiron said as he also stopped while still holding himself in combat stance.

"Sitonee-chan? What was that?" Miyu asked as she is confused about the blast that occurred.

"Beats me, I'm not a god that rules over constellations nor do I have a constellation for myself.". Sitonai said while still riding on the bear.

And then another flash from the stars above and that flash then struck into the ground and suddenly there isn't even a trace of any Azure Soldiers there left. It is clear that it must be something that this Twin Unlimited Blade Work that is clearly capable of.

Cu Chulainn meanwhile is clearing up a battalion of Azure Soldiers right now when suddenly another flash appeared and that flash blasted his location and leaving behind a large crater as it obliterates any Azure Soldiers there. However, he is still unharmed despite being in its blast.

"Huh? I'm alive?!" Cu Chulainn said as he has gotten onto too many close calls that he got surprised that he got out unharmed by what seems like it could kill him.

Back at the Hill of Swords, Irisviel then placed her hand on her son's shoulder as she then placed her trust in him. As a mother and an ally that he could place his full trust in.

More of those stars started to shooting down towards the ground. The Servants can't help but to instinctively dodge them although there are clearly many times that those shots landed on them but didn't even harm them at all. At worse, they would just get their vision completely flashed and turn white but pretty much any threat beside them is gone when it did so.

Seeing those flashes raining down upon the ground below, all of them were like stardust. Carrying the wishes and prayers as they soar up to the sky and fade away to who knows where. It was his wish to see all of these hells to undone and the bond that he made with everyone in Chaldea here has led to this ultimate culmination of all of his experience.

The memorial will only become larger with more Heroic Spirits he came across. But his hands will never wield any of them.

His sisters look toward the rain of stardust in front of them. They looked at it as the sight came into their eyes, they watch as time seeps away like sand in an hourglass.

They then reach out to his hand as they held his hands tightly. With their eyes closed, they together pray with him as the stars raining down.

The Servants eventually stopped trying to evade them. What's the point if they can't be harmed by it and the fact that it did the job for them when it comes to clearing out the Azure Soldiers. They just stand there and watch the light show around them as they embrace the light of the stardust itself. They not gonna lie about this but, it felt kinda warm to be doused in this light.

Soon, the stars all around them quickly charge up for one final salvo. And soon, they all fired together into one large blast that engulfs everything in its bright light. All of the Servants there just stand watch as that wall of light approaching them before being completely engulfed in it. It then started to reach for the Hill of Swords and the family just stand there as they close their eyes and bracing for it.

And then there is only the white color that painted the entirety of this world. White... like a scars-covered heart of glass.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Price of A Mile**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

The rain ceased, they were staying under it for so long that they felt strange without the rain pouring down on them. Alfin tried to find anyone around her and yet she is as lost as everyone else despite they were just two feet away from each other.

She then dispels the King Tiger that she rode on just now as Alfin then started to run aimlessly in the fog without a clear idea of what to do. Is this what it was like to Arnold? To be blind at every corner of judgment without knowing anything better?

She keeps running around as she realized that she is stepping on something mushy and wet and splatters with each step of her. She looked down and realized that it was mud. The fog started to clear up and rain started to fall on her. Soon, she realized just what this place is.

_**Words of God:**__** For this part, play Price of a Mile - Sabaton**_

The memory that she witnessed as a specter to Arnold's past. The land scarred by war completely and absolutely destroyed beyond all hope of restoration. There was no hope in this place, only death and fears and the carnage of the industrialized manslaughter.

She started to shake in fear as the horror of war is unleashed into her eyes. She remembered it clearly now, this was what Arnold went through back then as a messenger. Now, all of it will unfold right in front of her.

She realized that the Azure Soldiers also got dragged into this place and even one thing that she can't even believe her own eyes, even the fifth wall itself got dragged into this place too. Due to its own weight, it is slowly sinking down into the mud of this forsaken battlefield.

The stench of death emanating everywhere, she felt instinctively disgusted by the sight despite she alone has committed what can be considered even worse than this.

"Hey! Over here!" A voice called out to her.

She turned around and saw Pierce, Desmond, and Richard running along in this muddy trench as they approach her.

"Good to know that you two are still fine but just what is this place?!" Alfin asked after knowing the condition of her two fellow allies.

"This is like the same that you saw in that Red Bowman's Reality Marble. Each Servant has different Reality Marble and not one of them has the same kind. You need a warped view of the world to have such a thing in the first place. What you see in Red Bowman's RM is a forgotten battlefield with blades plunged into the ground. This one... is the battle of Passchendaele retelling through Arnold's memory." Richard explained as he looked around the place.

And then something caught their attention as they turned around and saw a massive amount of Azure Soldiers charging toward them. Even when the mud is knee-deep, they still charging at them like a rabid hound seeing only its prey ahead of them without caring about anything else. The fifth wall still open fires at them despite it is slowly sinking to the depth of hell.

Hail of ballistics started to fly at them and they quickly take cover. But that was unnecessary for Arnold has also come to help them. He stood above the trench, his stance is firm and tall, there is not a single shred of uncertainty in it. His figure looks heroic and powerful and Alfin looks at him attentively as if the hero of her life has come for her.

His cloak on his back blew across the wind as it soars through this forsaken battlefield. His WW1 soldier's attire that was bleached gray by the passage of time. His messenger cap that has seen many days of suffering with him even till his end. He just looks that plain simple yet his aura is telling a much bigger picture. The determined look in his eyes even if jaded by the cruelty of his past and his end.

With a single command as he raised his arm to the dark sky above him, discarded machine guns around them that they didn't notice start to fly from the ground up, and then the artilleries and then any heavy firepower weaponry also follow suits with his. The hail of ballistics came closer as he unleashes his own salvo against them.

Like rolling thunder, his own barrage managed counter against the fifth wall ballistics as he quickly unleashing them upon his enemy. They stood there in position and keep firing independently from him. The Azure Soldiers that are also dragged into here now appeared as they rushing down the no man's land. Thousands of steps were heard as thousands of machine guns unleashing their fires down upon them as the sounds echo through the field.

Mortars raining down upon the muddy field as they scar the ground that was once a green fertile land. The cruelty of war has no bound as the extent of its damage is beyond any man's imagination at that time. By the time they realize that... there is no hope of restoration for what they did.

The mortar shells' explosions created many craters and the rain turning all of them into sinkholes. Many Azure Soldiers think they could just charge head-in without stopping as they fall into it and then unable to get out. They eventually sink into the mud and soon they were completely gone into the mud itself. It was the same fate that the soldiers in his time have the misfortune to suffer.

Alfin looked into the no man's land in front of her. Never has warfare feels this gritty and dirty like this. At least in WW2, your death may be swift and painless but here? A single shot and you will feel tremendous agony and then infection from how dirty all of these trenches are and soon you rot and left to be forgotten in the mud. That's just all there is to be for a WW1 soldier, there is no glory to be won.

The machine guns shredding through the enemy's infantry like how he remembered those images of what unfolded during those killing grounds that were forced into his mind. But he gritted his teeth as he knew those Azure Soldiers aren't anything that is remotely human but they are just rage given a physical form. But the similarity of what is happening back then and now just paralleling each other.

Half of a million of lives... gone... for just six miles of ground. Six miles of unusable, worthless ground that was torn apart by war... That's just how much worth all of those who died there really measure. Not even worth a patch of ground smaller than the eyes that used to be so full of hope...

And as those lives cling onto their wish to see the next day, crawling their guts through this muddy hell. The generals only further distance themselves from the reality of war. Lives that were lost as the only thing that is increasing is the death toll. Those mindless killings were carried on as every man was stuck in a perpetual cycle of hatred. Unable to break the bind as there is only death no matter the decision they make. If they don't kill, others will.

In the end... Just what is the purpose of it all...

_**What's the price for a mile?**_

Arnold magically takes out multiple pigeon cages from behind his cloak as he releases all of them. Those pigeons then flew towards the sky above them and soon disappeared behind the cloud. The only remaining trace was a plume of feather dropping behind.

Arnold stares at the no man's land as the Azure Soldiers charging toward him. He stood there and wait as if he already knew the outcome. Suddenly, an artillery barrage then befalls upon the no man's land with such intensity that is unbelievable. Millions of shells are raining down like storm upon the battleground ahead of him. It was as if he just ripped open the sky straight to Verdun and used the ballistics that was used there and brought it to this place.

Thousands of feet marched to their beats as he remembers the cry of despair. Knee deeps in mud, stuck in a trench with no way out...

Thousands of feet marched to their beats as the army on the march. Long way... from home... Paying the price with young men's lives...

The artillery shells hammering on the torn ground of Passchendaele, obliterating anything it lands on. Panzers, Tigers,... nothing can withstand such intense barrages like this. Even if they can endure, the shells will tear apart the ground it stood on and soon they will fall into the sinkholes that the shells created and will helplessly try to escape only to inevitably disappear to the muddy earth.

Although the Azure Soldiers are easily dealt with, the fifth wall is the biggest problem they need to deal with sooner or later. Its armament could throw a wrench to the whole plan and unless they find a way to deal with it swiftly. They might be going to stuck here for a long time unless they get rid of the fifth wall.

The shells that are hammering on the fifth wall doesn't even seem to make a dent on it. The sounds of explosive shells detonating turn into rolling thunder as they could hear the sounds of the explosions despite the barrage of ballistics that Arnold is unleashing right now on the charging Azure Soldiers.

The fifth wall still stood there, indomitable. It was as if it is taunting them of how weak they are. No matter how much power Arnold may throw at it, he won't be able to beat it at all. Waiting for it to sink into the mud will take too long. They need an ingenious idea, one that will turn the table upon the whole thing.

Both Pierce and Richard want to assist Arnold but they felt completely outclassed by what Arnold is capable of right now. Their help would just be too pale in comparison to him.

Alfin, however, is looking at the wall attentively. She doesn't know if this will work or not but she has to try or there won't be tomorrow left for them. She focuses attentively on the fifth wall. It was a construct made out of steel, there is no denying it...

"Hold on..." Alfin suddenly realized one thing, one fact that could have turned the whole tide together.

Steel... It was Alfin's greatest affinity... If that is the case... perhaps...

"I have to do it... Even if the whole world turns its back on me, I have to strive forward no matter what. This... is my final solution!" Alfin thought as she focuses her power.

Her eyes' color turned into ember as she quickly activating one certain magecraft that a certain Red Bowman has taught her. Projection. She reads over the fifth wall's design as it laid out like a blueprint in her mind. She quickly reads over them, all of the materials consisted except the mysterious element mixed into it. The armaments built into the fifth wall and its structural design and mechanism. She read all of them like a book as she quickly formatting them into the most cost-efficient recreation.

She then crouches to the ground as she placed both of her hands on the ground as if channeling the mana in this Reality Marble. She doesn't know if it will have any adversary effects on Arnold's mental health if she tampers with the mana flow here but she still has to proceed with it if she wanted any chance of taking down the fifth wall.

Siphoning the mana from the Reality Marble, the cost may be huge but there are simply no other alternatives. Arnold then started to feel that he is getting more tired as he turned around and saw Alfin is doing something. Before he could speak anything, Alfin opened her eyes and it shines with the color of ember. A tremor spreads throughout the ground as he felt something is rising up from the ground.

Something burst from the ground. No, it isn't just something... It was-

A massive array of walls rose up from the ground. Each of them is a carbon copy of the fifth wall itself. They lining up with each other as they quickly combined into a whole united fortress made out of steel. All of the armaments aimed towards only one target, the fifth wall.

Fighting fire with fire, if you don't have anything that is capable of fighting against it then think of something that is capable of doing so. And Alfin thought of one solution, itself.

Due to her inability to reproduce whatever element in there that was used to bump its power up, she decided to substitute with her own mana, just like what she did with the Metal Gear's railgun. However, it is one thing to put mana into a railgun compare to this massive construct. Her own mana won't be enough to patch up the difference between her copy and the original.

Alfin keeps pumping more of her mana into it but she felt that she will faint before reaching the threshold required for full power.

"I shall lend you a hand.". Richard said as he reaches out to her with his hand.

Alfin then grabbed it and Richard suddenly felt his strength being sapped as he quickly kneels to the ground from the tiredness. He knew that she would sap his mana for the solution she intended to use but didn't expect it to be a lot like this.

"Tsk... You have my strength!' Desmond grunted as he quickly pitches himself in by grabbing her hand.

And thus Desmond's stamina is also sapped as he quickly kneels to the ground from the tiredness he is facing. Arnold even if he helped, it would have been meaningless as his Magic stat isn't even that high and thus he won't be able to contribute much in the first place.

But... even then... He still has to help. He placed his hand on her shoulder and brace for the sapping of his strength. But... he felt nothing. Nothing happened.

It was at that moment when Alfin stood up as she raised her right hand towards the fifth wall. Both Richard and Desmond let go of her as they breathed heavily from how lethargic it was when their mana is being sapped by Alfin. Her eyes are blazing like what happened when she uses the full extent of her Soulburst Forge.

"Fire!" Alfin shouted as the whole wall unleashing their armaments against the original.

A massive barrage was unleashed, one that not even Arnold could believe at all. The attack of her fifth walls combined with his artillery barrage is pushing the fifth wall down into the mud. Although none of their attacks actually dealing any damage the force that their barrages landing on it is speeding up the process greatly. Because destroying the fifth wall through brute force is impossible, they will instead push it down into the forgotten nightmare scape of the past.

Slowly, the mud started to engulf the thing. The wall still tries to fire its armament no matter what even if the whole world will fall on top of it. But just because it can try doesn't mean it would do anything. Plus, what Arnold will send to it isn't just brute force alone.

Arnold then threw a pigeon as it soars through the sky and pierces through the dark and raining sky above it. And then... something started to drop from it. It is definitely not an artillery shell, at all.

It then impacts right on top of the fifth wall and then releasing some sorts of yellowish gas as it quickly spread throughout it. Anywhere the gas touches, everything corrodes. Soon, the fifth wall started to creak up as the corrosion pushing the wall's mechanism into the breaking point. And then... a huge and deafening explosion occurred as everyone can't help but to instinctively duck when they see so.

The top of the fifth wall is in ruin as he can see the blazing wreckage clearly. He must have corroded even the ammuniation and it caused serious malfunction when it primes those corroded shells.

Those were mustard gas, the very weapon that has claimed Arnold's life back then. Now... he used it as his weapon against the very adversary he is facing right now. With the mustard gas's corrosion. Each blow from their artillery barrage became a lot more damaging than before. The weakening structure of the fifth wall only serves to excerbate the inevitability as it slowly sinking into the mud.

After who knows how long but definitely not even half an hour passed, the fifth wall soon disappeared into the mud in its blaze of 'glory'. Everything then ceases to be, no more conflict, no more war, no more gunfire, no more tears...

They did it... They did what is thought to be impossible for so long... The emotions that swell inside them without a mean to even portray into actions or words. All they really do, is just letting their hearts crying out in whatever manner they wanted to be. Pierce and Richard hugged each other tightly as if they were father and son. Desmond simply tipping his helmet as he simply letting out a whisper for only himself.

Alfin and Arnold... they didn't believe that they actually did it. Through their united effort, they managed to take down the fifth wall. Arnold looks toward the empty no man's land ahead of him as a tear dropped from his eyes. It wasn't a tear of sadness or anything but it was one that belongs to the memory, the quote that his friend left behind...

_No crying until the end..._

He sobbed, that it took him this long. It took him... to transcend death and reborn as a Servant... just to finally cry with all of his heart knowing that he did all he could to the very end. Suddenly, he feels something warm in his hand as he turned around and saw Alfin is holding his hand. She too... cries in overflowing emotions.

Dusts started to scatter up from the fabric of this world, their times here are coming to an end. Everyone looked at each other as they reached their conclusion with their own acceptance. Their vision slowly turns white as this world vanishes away... Arnold was the last to take a last glimpse in his Reality Marble and in his last second here, he whispered.

_Live... to tell the world, the words of Passchendaele_

Everything then turns white as his world came to an end.

...

...

...

He opened his eyes as he found himself back at the reality again. The fifth wall in front of him is gone, not even a trace remained. The path ahead beyond is filled with a massive dense fog that he couldn't make out what is beyond it.

Arnold turned around and saw everyone else standing there as they were trying to realize just what has happened just now. Only the sounds of rain and clearing of winds remain, they stood there wondering what they should do now that they made it this far finally.

The Chaldeans, Pierce, Richard, Desmond, Simo and Ana. And then he and Alfin. When it finally hits them that they have finally made it through, they looked at each other and thinking how they should speak to break the tension here.

"So... we did it..." Gudao said solemnly as he looked at the gaping opening in where the fifth wall was.

Everyone then steps toward the entrance to their final frontier. They don't care what was happening between them anymore. All they knew is that things will finally came to an end. Their journey's end...

They standing beside each other, some were revered as a hero, some feared as a tyrant but that doesn't matter anymore. They have been fighting side by side each other for so long that the chemistry and any bad blood between them doesn't matter anymore.

Arnold took another step forward and then... Suddenly, he felt something throbbing inside of his head. His head felt like being hammered on constantly as he held it from the tremendous and agonizing pain he is going through. Feeling the rushing tides of blood in his veins as the migraine only turns for the worse.

Memory of his past quickly playing out through his mind. From the beginning, to the motorcycle chase, to those armored tanks, to his final stand and then his sacrifice. All of them playing out vividly in his minds as he wanted to smash his head into the ground so that he can relieve himself from this pain. His vision turned black briefly before all of them suddenly ceased.

At that moment, Arnold was crouching suddenly looked straight into the nothingess in front of him. It was the final piece of his memory. The one that shines its clarity upon the final memory of his. But that truth... was the one with bitter taste.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Revelation  
Descendence into Darkness**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**__**  
**_

* * *

Arnold woke up... He felt like his body was brought from the brink of death and he felt so weak and his body is aching so much that he would rather died. He takes a look at his surrounding and realized that he was lying on a bed, or more exactly... a hospital bed.

He looked into his palms and realize that he still has a clear vision despite his eyes might have possibly corroded by those mustard gases. He takes a deep breath and feel actually refreshed despite he remembers that his lungs were on fire back then.

"What happened? I thought..." Arnold thinks as he looked down into his own palms.

And then he turned around and saw a girl. She looked familiar as if he saw her somewhere before. There is some sense of familiarity that he can't quite tell what it is.

The girl looked sad as she just sits there looking at him with a melancholic feeling. Arnold can't quite handle this suffocating atmosphere that he decided to break it while he could.

"May I ask who you are?" Arnold asked the girl.

"You don't remember me? I am your sister!" The girl said to him as she can't believe that he has forgotten about her.

Arnold was confused... He then remembered about the letter he received back then from his sister. So this is her and this is the first time he saw her if this memory indicate it correctly. But why? Why does he felt like he has met her already.

And then Arnold looked at her face, it reminds him of something. That jawline and eyes... It then dawns on him of who she is. She's... Alfin's sister. How? Why is she here? And why is she callling Arnold her brother? Isn't her only younger sister is the only family member she has left by now?

And then it hit him, if she is his sister... Then... He is...

"Sis? What's your name?" Arnold asked in fear of what he may think is the truth of who he is.

"My name is Paula Hitler... You know that right?" The girl said to him with a straight face.

Arnold went silent, so it is the truth... He is Adolf Hitler after all... From a brave messenger into a tyrant that thrown this world into a nightmare. This is what he truly is?

There's no denying it anymore, Arnold is truly defeat at this revelation. To learn that you were never a hero in the first place is just a massive gut punch right into his weak spot. He felt his heart fractured and his will completely shattered.

Arnold then just let himself go as he gazed into the ceilings. The sky outside is clear, a complete far cry from that battle where the rain and mud mesh into blood and tears. Those bloodstained memories still haunt him as he can't get rid of those horrors away from his mind. He turned around and saw a newspaper placed on the stool nearby him.

He grabbed it and checked the content for himself. The publishing date was November 13, about three days after the end of the Battle of Passchendaele. The paper released some of the war statistics and classified contents. But the biggest headline was the announcement of the defeat of the Wehrmancht in this battle itself.

"In the end... Nothing changed..." Arnold thought as he flips through each page.

In each page, there are pictures of the aftermath of the war. The statisic said that the German casualty was about 220,000 soldiers. When he looked at the images, the black and white color in it suddenly turned into colors in his eyes. An inhumane slaughter, a complete butchery, an absolute bloodbath... Those bloody images still flooding into his traumatized mind. He wanted to avert his eyes away but he can't let the past weigh on him like this.

Just as he is about to turn to the next page, one particular picture struck him in a way that he felt strange. That picture, he focused on it as he is trying to search for something that is hidden there. Within the hazy image, he found someone who looks out of place there but the dubious quality of the picture make that person completely unseen unless focused attentively. Carrying a strongbox in their hands, he felt that box was too unusually strengthened to the point that he felt it was deliberately kept there to never see the light of the next day.

And when he looked around more, he noticed something else in the picture. It is him being carried away in a crutch by the medic, that's most likely how he managed to be alive now.

He turned the pages more as he searches for more of those pictures until he suddenly stopped. At that moment, Arnold's mind shut down upon laying his eyes upon it.

The picture that devastated Arnold's last vestige of hope, is the one that shows a close-up shot of a destroyed A7V tank. He remembered its serial number plated on it and the one in the picture shows the exact same thing. The memories of his friends flash in his mind as the time he spent together with them playing out only serves to put more fuel for the fire.

Arnold dropped the newspaper to the floor, there isn't anything left that he holds dear remaining in this world. Even if his sister is there, her presence is meaningless to him. At that point, the whirling emotions inside him completely break loose as he claps his face with both of his hands as tears just seems to not cease flowing at all. His sacrifise, everything he did, all was for nothing.

He just sits there, lamenting his lost and how there is nothing left for him.

His childhood tore him part once, and then this war did it again. And soon... the world will be torn apart, because of him.

* * *

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

_**Bitter Taste of Truth**_

_**"._."**__**"._."**__**"._."**_

* * *

_**Words of God: **__**For this part, play The Bitter Taste of Truth - Ace Attorney**_

Arnold keeps crouching there, completely baffled by what just unfolded in that last piece of memories. The truth of his identity and who he is... The truth completely broke him as he then knelt to the ground and smash the ground with both of his hands.

"WHY!?" Arnold yelled as he can't control his own overflowing emotions.

Is this what Alfin has to go through when she learned the truth about herself? An insurmountable sense of denial completely washed over her as she is helpless against it?

If it wasn't for him being by her side for all of the time. She could have lashed out against others and potentially become what Hitler would have been otherwise. In another word, history repeats itself.

Arnold tried to pull himself up but his legs refuse to do so. He screamed internally as he tried to find any way to vent out all of this existential crisis, depression, frustration. But no matter what he does, those raging emotions still consuming his mind no matter what.

He then realized that the reason why he is so invested in Alfin in the first place is because Hitler also has a serious case of narcism. It might explain why he felt such resonance with her, the feelings of love for someone like her. It is because both he and Alfin are Hitler is why they felt such compelling attraction and unbounded love like that.

Realizing just how much of a farce of hero he is, he was never one to begin with. At this point, Arnold doesn't mind if he would just collapse right now and be done with it and-

He felt someone is hugging from the behind which snapped him back from his thought back into reality. The familar warmth he felt, it can only be one person...

"Arnold! Please! Don't!" Alfin hugged him as tightly as she could as if she doesn't want him to throw his life away much like how she was back then when she learned of her truth.

Arnold keeps kneeling like that as tears keep flowing from his eyes. He squinted in order to keep it from flowing but it was pointless no matter what. He remembered back then, how much that he vowed to give her the happiness she desired. And now, how ironic... He managed to save her from her own depression but he does jack shit about his when facing his revelation.

Everyone stood there, waiting whatever Arnold may try to do. Suspicion was already amook by now but never once did they feel so tense. They together preparing their stance, prepared to react to whatever Arnold may do. This kind of suspicion that was once placed on Alfin is now on Arnold. One false step and we will have a bloodbath.

Arnold stood up as Alfin letting go of him. He took a few steps forward before grabbing a knife from his imaginary weapon racks. In that moment, Alfin rushed towards him in fear of what he may try to do to himself.

"Arnold!" Alfin shouted as she quickly rushes toward him as fast as she could.

A single slash was heard. Alfin stopped moving when she heard it as she looked at him in sorrow. Arnold... he looks like somebody else now.

But the knife was still as clean like nothing happened. Alfin let out a sigh of relief that things still haven't turn for the worse... yet. But then when she thinks about it, her mind dawns on the fact that he might have cut something else.

Arnold turns around. Everyone suddenly gasps as they see a single change that changed their perspective. He shaved away his mustache into the toothbrush one. Just a simple change in facial hair and you can literally hide whoever you are as long as nobody knows what you were before. But in Arnold's case, he reveals who he truly is.

It was as clear as day... Arnold... is Hitler.

"This... is who I truly am." Arnold said as he drops the knife from his hand. The knife then disintegrates into nothingness before it could touch the ground.

"Arnold!" Alfin shouted as she jumped into his embrace. She refuses to let him muling over like this.

Alfin held him as tightly as he could. She doesn't want to let go of him in fear that he will suddenly disappear.

"Alfin..." Arnold whispered to her.

"Arnold... It doesn't matter if your feelings for me are forced or not. It doesn't matter what you did in the past. What truly matters are what make you the person you are today. Because I could tell you that you advanced far more than how actual Hitler would ever get. And... my love for you are real." Alfin said to Arnold straight to him.

"Alfin... I..." Arnold said as he felt too emotional in order to put them into words.

Both of them held each other as tightly as they savors the warmth of each other. They don't care if they received the scorning eyes or not.

Arnold was a soldier and thus he was forced to have a composure made out of steel. Because of that, he is hardly swayed by feelings and emotions but that strength would eventually become a weakness if forced to constantly endure trauma without away to relieve them. The moment he cracked, it will be like a biblical flood.

Alfin whose mentality is mostly of a child but forced to have maturity of an adult. It is because of that, she can easily express her emotions and letting them loose upon moment notice.

"Can you be done with this sob story already? It doesn't matter if you are Hitler or not. We already have Alfin confessed herself being one so don't waste our time with drama already..." Gudao said straightforwardly.

"Trust me, we have more blood on our hands than you at this point." Kiritsugu said unamusedly.

"That's it? You really forgive me like that?" Arnold said as he tries to gather back his composure.

"I mean... Does it really matter anymore at this point? We have taken out the fifth wall and thus it will be a clear path to whatever is the land beyond here." Gudao said as he just wanted to get over this already.

Arnold probably should be realizing by this point that if they are willing to accept Alfin for who she is, the same would be to him.

"But still... that leaves us with one more question. If there are two Hitlers here, then who is exactly controlling the Third Reich? Is it another Hitler? Or someone else?" Pierce asked the one question that nobody is sure whether to bring it up or not.

"Who knows? But all we can do is just strive forward." Gudao said as he moves toward the fog ahead of them.

While Gudao is moving pass Simo, Simo felt something. Something is urging him to search for whatever is in the Gudao's pouch. Without realizing it, he has already given into his own instinct and stealthily grabbed something out of it without any of the Chaldean to notice. And by the time they did, Simo was already 20 meters behind them.

"Simo? What is that?" Anastasia asked.

In his hand is a blue orb of sorts. He doesn't quite understand what it actually is but he still checks around just to make sure that it won't trigger in his hand.

"HEY! What are you doing with the Fra-" Shirou said as he quickly charges toward them.

Anastasia in her panic quickly grabbed the orb only to accidentally triggers it. The orbs then suddenly turned into a dagger as it flew towards Shirou.

"Oh for-" Shirou cursed before he got pierced by it.

Well... That's what supposed to happen but Arnold jumped in the way and pushed Shirou out. However, because what Anastasia applied on the orb was neglient at best. Its power is severely limited but that is such a bad move that is supposed to be prevented.

"Watch out with that thing! You could have killed someone with it!" Shirou yelled at the duo who was responsible for misusing of such a Mystic Code like that.

"Hey! Are you alright?" Arnold said as he lends a hand to Shirou.

"Yeah... I'm-" Shirou said before he realized something is horrifically wrong.

"Huh?" Arnold was confused by the expression on Shirou's face as the man is staring in disbelief towards one location.

Arnold looked down and saw... a gaping hole in his chest...

"Fuck..." Arnold said before he collapsed to the ground face flat.

And somehow... they just made another mess just right before they enter the fifth ring. Everyone quickly gathered at what just happened and Desmond quickly tried to treat his injury but considering it was right at his chest, they thought that they lost Arnold when that happened but the guy managed to wake up and get back on his feet in literally just a minute after treatment.

"I think we have the right to have a listen to what this thing is..." Richard said.

"Sigh... The orb that you two just activate carelessly is the Fragarach. A Noble Phantasm that is made to retaliate against attacks or more specifically, Noble Phantasm activation. If use as a normal attack, it is mostly negliable at best but used as a counter against Noble Phantasm attacks and the Fragarach's true power will be unleashed. That's when it would flat out kill you very quickly." Shirou said.

"Hold on... You said that it would activate its true power against Noble Phantasm' activation..." Desmond said.

"Yeah? So what's wrong with that?" Gudao said unamusedly.

"You... You could have saved Larry while he is still fighting the White Death... The Fragarach... it could have saved him! So then... Why?" Desmond said as he pieces the information together and realized the bigger picture.

Everyone then stares at Gudao, wondering why he didn't use it despite in such a dire situation like that. It could have ended the conflict in a swift manner because those ice hellscapes were created by the combination of Simo's and Anastasia's Noble Phantasm. Even that is much admitted by even them. If Gudao has the Fragarach with him then... why didn't he use it to take them down at all

"There has to be a reason much greater than this..." Pierce said.

And then suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind. What if...

"What if... the Chaldeans figured out Arnold's identity even before he uses his Noble Phantasm?" Pierce said.

"If that's the case and considering the actual Hitler's tendency to backstab. The Chaldeans must have thought that Arnold would betray them eventually and thus will get rid of him when he did so." Simo said.

"How ironic, that fear of betrayal ended up making him betray even before Arnold would have such a thought came across his mind." Richard said.

"Chaldean Master... I thought... that you would have believed each other. So then... Why!? Why didn't you save him!?" Desmond said as he grabbed Gudao's by his clothes' collar. But not lifting him up in order to threatening, such a thing is impossible with a man like him

But the looks in his eyes are telling that he is in a lot of pain, he felt betrayed. Betrayed by those who he believed would be able to save the world.

And at that moment, they didn't know they just opened a Pandora's Box...

* * *

_**Servants Profile**_

**_The Messenger_**

**_Class:_****_ Archer_**

_True__ Name: Adolf Hitler (Arnold)_

_Str: C+__| Agi: B++ (A++)__| End: B__| Mana: D__| Luck: E__| NP: B++  
-Wise up!-_

_Passive Skills:  
-Independent Action C++: _It is possible for a Servant to stay in the world for one day without a Master's connection. In Arnold's case, as long as he has a duty to carry out, he won't disappear until after his duty is fulfilled and after two days

_-Magic Resistance E: Due to being a Modern Servant, he basically can't resist magical based attacks without fatally crippled if what hit him isn't a Master's attack._

_-Riding B: Allow the user to operate most_ _vehicles and animals can be handled with above average skill, even vehicles that did not exist in the time period one was alive in, for they are no exception. However, he cannot ride the likes of Phantasmal Species such as Monstrous Beasts._

_Personal Skills:_

_-Valor C+: A valiant surviving soldier of what would be called one of the deadliest conflicts in human history should speak some volume of his bravery. Considering that he is a Servant which mean he is a famous soldier in modern times. Raises Strength slightly and grants minor resistance to mental interference if up against adversary._

_-Ironsight Reflex A: Due to the nature of his job back when he was human, it is obvious that such an extremely dangerous job with a very high fatality rate beyond eve foot soldiers would demand excessive skills in both reflexes, marksmanship and decision making. This skill also allows its user to evade extremely fast projectiles or blows repeatedly without putting great strains on his mind. It also allows the user to attain greater accuracy during the using of firearms even in precarious situations. Also, double as Intuition. (Wise up!)_

_-Iron Trauma C: Due to his survival in the cruelest and most savage war where inventions were made to kill as much as possible. This skills allow him to survive many or otherwise fatal attacks and quickly recover upon receiving aids_

**_Noble Phantasm_**

**|_Rider of Torment__|  
The Messenger's Deliverance_**

**_Rank B |__ Classification: Vehicle, Anti-Unit_**

**_One of the invention borns during the era where horses are considered outdated due to the advancement of ballistic technology. This motorcycle has seen the same suffering that its rider also has. Upon being summoned and used by its beholder. It will raise its rider's Agility parameter by another full rank with modifier remains unchanged by this NP._**

**_|Battle of Passchendaele|_****_Wise up!  
Price of A Mile_**

**_Rank B++| Classification: Anti-Army_**

**_A Noble Phantasm that is the ultimate culmination of all of what Arnold went through and grown as a soldier in the battle of Passchendaele. This Noble Phantasm invokes a Reality Marble that is a retelling of the Battle of Passchendaele. Arnold when activated this Noble Phantasm, he will have complete control over what is innately summoned in his Reality Mable with the exclusion of the enemy and entities dragged into this place._**


End file.
